You are MINE
by Draguna Doragon
Summary: This spider's web has characters that come from unlikely places and are thrown towards greatness. seductive, impulsive, destructive greatness. Pairings include OC characters for the following well loved DC characters. Trigon, Black Adam, Red Hood, Batman (Dick Grayson) the Flash...and OMAC in a whole new way. MA for a reason. you've been warned. Enjoy .
1. Chapter 1

_Welcome to the first chapter! I have quite a few OC's but if you bare with me, you'll see the spider's web that I build not just with the OC's...but their DC owned love interests as well. There will be SMUT in these chapters, so beware. Also violence...this is based in the DC universe after all! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. ^.^_

 _Disclaimer: OC's are mine. DC characters are theirs...obviously... enjoy! ^.^_

 _Chapter 1_

 _Finally, my shift is nearly over._ Nailah Safar smiled with sweet relief. Yet another long day serving coffee and food at 'Benny's Diner' was so very nearly over. Then she could get a bus home and collapse for the next few days. _I have some new charcoal vines and sticks at home I'm itching to break in._

Nailah was born and raised in Metropolis, as were the last 3 generations of her family, but she still looked very Egyptian. Long think brown hair, so dark it was almost black, and deep honey skin. Her eyes were dark brown with flecks of amber in them, and she had kohl liner around her eyes. A habit she kept up as it reminded her of her mother. She did a quick prayer up to heaven, missing both her parents.

But with a sigh and a brave smile Nailah picked up her note pad and walked over to the only table in her section of the Diner with customers sat down.

"Good afternoon. My name is Nailah. What can I get you two today?"

"Two coffees and I'll have a toasted bagel with cheese." The woman spoke, and then turned to her daughter. "What do you want to eat Synthia?"

"Same as you I guess." Nailah scanned her deep brown eyes over the pair. You could see the family resemblance. Both blonde, although the mother had a short bob and the daughter had her hair flowing half way down her back. both had blue eyes, but the mother's were steel and the daughter's were cerulean.

"Ok. How do you take your coffee?"

"Black." The mother nodded with a distant smile.

"Milk in mine please."  
"Any sugars?" Nailah finished scribbling on her note pad.

"No thank you." the teenager answered for them both. And with that, Nailah went off to give the 'Chef' the order. She got straight on making the coffees, and peered over at the pair.

People watching became a skill she added to her artistic tool box. It was vital, if you wanted to capture emotion and motive in your sketches.

 _The mother seems sad and the daughter seems angry. Maybe they argued over something?_ Nailah thought that this scene reminded her of her teenage years. Oh how she missed those trivial bickering moments…

 _At any rate, you can feel the love and concern coming off the mother in waves. I'm sure their problems are small and everything will be fine._

 _Over at the table._

"But why mum? Why do we have to move _again_?!"

"I told you sweet heart. We'll stop moving once I find a secure job."

"You've _never_ had a secure job mum. Not since I was little." Synthia sighed. She folded her arms over her blue hoodie and shrugged her shoulders. "This happens every time. I make friends, get settled, and then you come home all flustered and there we go. Packed up and moving again." She patted the rucksack by her side. "I bet you've already bought the bus tickets, am I right?" at first she didn't answer. "Edna Barnabus?"

"Now I think you'll find that is the _parent_ that uses the first and last name when their _child_ is in trouble." Despite her worries Edna smirked at her sassy daughter. She got that trait for her, after all. "Not the other way around."

"Well I think I've earnt the right to be a bit pissy with you mum. Just as Tim asked me to the summer dance. Final exams are done. I'm supposed to be partying and getting ready to go to college. When do I get to move on with my life mum? You never let me apply anywhere. I want to study music and singing. You know I can sing mum."

"I know sweet heart. You're…like a siren." Edna sighed, and they held their tongues as the waitress came back. Edna looked the girl over and thought she looked rather pretty.

 _Pretty faces and people with bad intentions lead to where I am today. I pray you don't fall prey to the same…_ _temptations_ _I did…_

"Can I get you anything else today?"

"No thank you Nailah. Here, this should cover it. keep the change." Edna handed over a 20 and the young woman smiled. She was clearly pleased with her tip.

"Have a lovely evening." She sauntered off and Edna missed the days that she had hips like those…

"Mum?" ah, back to the matter at hand. "I'm not going this time. I'm 18 and you can't force me anymore. Lame excuses like 'because mommy is hiding from debt collectors' doesn't cut it anymore."

"We have to leave." Edna gulped her coffee. "Hurry up and eat your bagel so we can-"

"Mother? I-am-not-leaving." Synthia put her elbows on the table and pointed with her right hand against the counter top. She meant business. Her voice might be hushed, but she was clearly losing her temper. "I am going to apply to whatever college will still take my late application, and I'm going to the summer dance. I'm not responsible for _your_ debt."

"If only that were true." Edna sighed down into her coffee. "But it's not. So we need to leave. Our bus leaves in 1 hour to Central city. So eat up and drink up."

"For once in your life will you just _listen_ to me?" Synthia banged her hands on the table, making Edna gasp and bling at her child.

No. Synthia wasn't a child anymore. She was tall and shapely. She had perfectly peachy skin, golden hair, bright blue eyes, legs for days and an ample bust size. So very beautiful. _I've never let her stay anywhere long enough to get a boyfriend or let anyone fawn over her looks. Thankfully…_

So her daughter was still a modest and down to earth sort of girl.

No. woman.

Edna sighed with defeat and looked around them. The waitress was counting her tips and the only other customer was an old man. He was at the other side of the diner and reading a paper. No one was listening. "Mum I swear if you don't start listening to me I'm gonna-"

"If I tell you the truth you have to promise not to interrupt me, and not to draw attention to us. Got it?"

Synthia licked her lips and sat back with a firm nod.

Every single time she had asked her mother the truth to why they lived like nomads, she received a slightly different round of bullshit. Tax collectors. Credit debt collectors. Abusive ex…

 _Maybe this time she'll tell me the truth._

Synthia prepared herself, just encase it was a new and imaginative story instead of the truth, but she held her fingers crossed under the table. she gave her mother her undivided attention.

"Ok. When I was younger…I practised magic."

Synthia sniggered. So much for the truth. "Look under the table." Edna scowled, leaning forward. Her hands were under the table top…and Synthia _did_ promise she'd listen to what she had to say.

 _Maybe this time the story will be entertaining. Especially since it has 'magic' in it. pfft. Whatever._

So the young blonde woman pushed her napkin off the table and pretended to make moves to collect it.

She bowed her head under the table…and snapped back upright. Her eyes were wide and her back was stiff.

Her mother's hands…had been on fire. _Shit shit shit my mum can do magic like those super freaks on the TV. Her hands were on fire. Shit shit shit what the HELL did my mum get up to for us to be on the run…_ "Now listen carefully." Edna leaned forward and had pain in her steely eyes. "I was what they called a prodigy. I was naturally gifted. So much so that I soon got the 'wrong' attention. But it was fun. In _my_ rebellious teens I joined a cult."

"... _mum_. A _cult_ mum?! Seriously?" she thought about her paranoid mum peering out of the windows, scared of noises in the dead of night…and couldn't think of her mother being part of a cult.

"Shh." Her mother took a sip of her coffee, and glanced around them again. "Anyway. It was fun, dangerous, and sexy. I got in with a cult, the worst of bad crowds, and then I got noticed by their leader. Brother Blood. He was young and attractive. Powerful like I'd never dreamed and he doted on my every whim. I should have seen that as a bad omen. A narcissistic power hungry villain, showering _me_ with affection."

"So you were badass back in the day. Still not seeing why we keep doing a yoyo impression."

"Because…" Edna swallowed deeply and stared down into the dregs of her coffee. "…there was a ritual. A…blood ritual. One that involved me, a powerful mystic… _also_ a virgin…at the time."

"…mum…?" Synthia reached forward and took her mother's hands. This was going in a direction she hadn't anticipated, nor dreamt of in her worst nightmares.

"They held me down." Edna closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears from escaping and showing the extent of her pain. "I'll spare you the majority of the details, but during the ritual Brother Blood pushed me into the centre, I was held down and he…took me."

"Oh mum. Is he the man we're running from?"

"Yes." Edna opened her eyes and nodded. "I managed to fake a negative result when he tested to see if his ritual had been successful."

A lead weight dropped in Synthia's stomach.

"A…negative result? What…was the ritual supposed to do to you mum?" despite already knowing the answer, she needed to hear her mother say it. "Mum?" Edna took her hands back and chewed her lips.

"It made me pregnant. Brother Blood wanted a _worthy_ heir. Embodied with the powers of Trigon. No _normal_ child would do. And he didn't care to ask me first."

Synthia held her mouth and felt her eyes prickle with tears. Her mother had always told her she was the child of a one night stand. It had occurred to Synthia that most mothers would have lied about a thing like that. turns out that was the better cover story for what actually happened.

"I was conceived…by rape during a blood ritual? By the leader of one of the most famous and evil blood cults known to man?"

"Because as soon as I faked a negative pregnancy test, I ran. I looked guilty for running, but I couldn't help that. I have no idea what Brother Blood had planned for you, but I couldn't let you become his pawn. That man is _evil_ , and he will seduce you with poisoned lies."

"I see."

She gulped, and held her bag to her side. "Central city sounds nice."

Synthia looked as scared as her mother for the first time in her life. "I could get a part time job singing in a karaoke bar I guess."

"…I'm so sorry." Edna rose from her seat and brought her daughter into a tight embrace. "I wish you could live a normal life. I wish you could go to college and study music. But every time I think we're safe, I see hooded figures. Blood priests getting closer to finding us."

"Well…I have more questions…but they can wait." Synthia wiped her eyes and nodded towards the door. "We should leave. Like now. right?"

"Yes dear. We should."

Nailah sighed with sweet relief as the last two customers left the Diner, flowed closely by the old man.

"Finally! Closing time! I call _not_ taking out the trash!" she chuckled as her co-workers groaned at her. "It's fine I'll cash up. Then I feel a pizza coming on…"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So Central city looks nice." Synthia sighed and stared out the bus window. "Clean and kinda new age looking."

"As soon as we get to the job centre I'll find something like a dish washer in a Diner or something."

"Me too."

"No, you have to finish the school year. I' know you've done your exams, but it's the law." Edna patted her daughter's shoulder and smiled bravely for her.

"But mum I-"

"No buts young lady." Synthia chuckled and returned her baby blues to the window.

Her smile faltered as she saw another face looking back at her. Adrenaline thundered through her veins and she haphazardly took her mother's hand.

"M-m-mum!?"

"What is it?"

Edna searched the passing streets through the window for the source of her Daughter's reaction. No hooded figures. No obvious reason for Synthia to clung to her so. "Sweet heart?"

"Can't you see him?" The creature staring intently back at her was the most terrifying _thing_ she'd ever seen. His skin was dark crimson. His eyes were brilliant yellow, like molten gold, and then there was the fact that he had _four_ of them. Burning her with his gaze. Long ashy hair and eyebrows were stark in contrast to his demonic form. Arching out from his white mane was a set of dark brown _devilish_ looking horns. They arched back and up, sharp and pointed at each of the branched ends. It also didn't help her nerves that the rest of the window had become emulated with hellish flames. She could have _sworn_ she felt the heat from them…smelt the smoke…

When he smirked at her, Synthia pinned and pulled her mother closer to the window. "Mum you _have_ to see him?"

"Hold still." Edna put her hands on either side of her daughter's head, pressing her fingers to her temples. She then closed her eyes and chanted something Synthia couldn't quite make out. The feeling of her skin crawling came over her just as her mother opened her eyes.

"T-Trigon!?" Edna used her hands on either side of Synthia's head to force her to look away. "Don't look baby." Edna took her fingers from her temples, and the image in the window vanished. Synthia turned and clung to her mother, burying her face into the crook of her neck. She sobbed, still seeing that face at the back of her eyes. Something about the way that monster grinned at her made the taste of bile rise to her mouth.

"Who was that mum? Who's tri-"

"Listen to me!" Edna shook her daughter and somehow looked more scared than she did. "Never, _ever_ say his name. You will give him power if you do."

"But _you_ said it?" Edna cradled her daughter's face, wishing she could just lie and say that everything was going to be alright.

"I have no connection to him… _you_ do." Then she sighed, and stroked her daughter's long blonde hair. "It seems that I would have had to tell you the truth now anyway. Now he knows you live after all."

"Was that Brother Blood?"

"No." Edna stroked her daughters hair and tried her best to sooth her. she always did like her hair being stroked. "We need to get off the bus. It won't be long before they realise where we are. We need to get onto another bus or train out of central city."

"What?"

The bus came to a stop, and Edna practically dragged Synthia and their baggage off. "Mum wait!"

"No. Trigon saw you. He's no doubt already told Brother Blood and his cultists are swarming into portals to come and get us." Synthia was walking so fast down the street they were almost jogging. Other pedestrians were having to move aside to get out of her mother's way.

"Who is this red freak?" Edna pulled her to a jerked stop at a bus stop that said 'Gotham' on it.

"He is the demonic lord that the Blood cult follow." Edna was shaking. She was turning her head as inconspicuously as she could, despite her nerves. She was looking red hoods, or anyone who seems to be looking at them. It was to Trigon Brother Blood was invoking when…"

What she didn't say spoke volumes. Synthia couldn't imagine going through what her mother had. As gruesome as it was to hear, she knew damn well her mother had given her the censored version. What she must have experienced and seen was terrifying just to imagine. Especially now she'd seen the face of the devil, so to speak. "…suffice to say if Trigon knows, Brother Blood knows. I convinced him that the ceremony wasn't successful. If he realises that the young woman I'm with is the child he…well I'm a dead woman." Edna turned and terror flickered in those steel eyes, capturing her daughter dead in her tracks. "And I hate to think what they have planned for you."

"Ok. I'm appropriately scared. Where the _fuck_ is this bus?" Synthia was starting to hyperventilate.

 _I think I want the debt collector story back. that was so much better than being on the demonic hit list. Shit. Shit shit SHIT._

"Ok here we go." Edna held Synthia's hand and kissed it. "I don't know how Trigon found you. Perhaps because you're of age now? You turned 18 a few weeks back. I'd hoped when nothing happened that we dodged any 'coming of age' spell they might have put on you. damn. Anyway, I have a friend who owns a shop in Gotham. It's called The Dark Emporium. She'll have something there, regardless the reason, to shield you from his eyes."

"…all four of them…"

The Bus opened and Synthia jumped up with her mother onto it.

"two tickets to Gotham please."

"That's a long journey mam. It's $45 each."

"I see." Edna sighed and pulled out her purse. She turned, chewing her lips and looking at Synthia. "On you get. Get a window seat sweetheart."

There was something off about her mother…but Synthia didn't feel safe in Central city anymore. As she passed her, Edna smiled sadly at the driver. "I have enough for one. I'll get more money out and get another bus."

"Mum?!"

"I'll meet you there. At the shop I just told you about." Edna stared her down, and ran a hand back through her messy blonde bob. "I only have fifty left. Here."

"Thank you mam." The driver took the note and gave her $5 change. "The next bus is in an hour. You'll need to get off now mam."

"Yes. Of course." Edna turned and cupped Synthia's cheek, trying to ignore the tears she felt there. "I'll be one hour behind you. No matter what happens…go straight to the shop. I love you." Synthia felt something…heavy in her chest.

It was like…she was saying goodbye.

"You'll be on the next bus though. Right?"

"Of course. And no matter what, I'm with you always my sweet girl."

Her hand slipped from her face, and Edna couldn't hold the tears back anymore. "Be safe my baby."

"…m…mum?"

Synthia watched as her mother stepped off the Bus and walked parallel to her until she reached a window seat. Edna blew her a kiss through the window, and Synthia pressed her hands against it.

Behind her mother were three men in street clothes…and red hoods. "MUM!" The Bus pulled again and she started banging the window. "BEHIND YOU! MUM!"

"Sit down and calm down young lady! Or I'll stop this bus and kick you off!" the driver bellowed down the aisle at her, but he wasn't the reason she lost her voice.

Like in slow motion one of the men grabbed Edna, who didn't fight back. Where his hands touched her sparks jumped from his fingertips and assaulted her poor mother's body. Synthia couldn't hear her mother's scream, but she saw the pain on her face. Her mother's body sagged, and the three men dragged her through the quickly parting crowd. Synthia held her mouth and continued to stare out of the window, even as the scenes of regular traffic came into view.

 _Mum…she was taken…is she even….alive?_

Tears flooded from her baby blues and she held her mouth to stop herself from waling in grief. The last thing she needed was for the driver to act out on his threat. She'd get captured too.

"Hi." Synthia nearly hit the head compartment she jumped so high in her seat. "Wow there. I just thought you could use this."

Synthia scanned her paranoid baby blues over the girl and tried to ignore the thundering sound of her heart hammering against her ribcage. She swallowed, despite her dry throat, and removed her hands from her mouth. The girl wasn't all that scary really. She had a short pixie cut of ebony hair with a block fringe framing kind hazel eyes. She seemed younger than her, shorter and a bit geeky really. She wore jeans and blue T shirt that said 'I heart Maths' on it. The girl also held a laptop to her like it was her life line. In fact, Synthia wasn't surprised this girl had round glasses on and a necklace with a USB on it. there was an intelligence in those kind hazel eyes. She was disarmed by her, really. It also helped she was offering her a hanky. "You ok?"

"I…" _just watched my mother being kidnapped. She probably sensed them and let them take her so they didn't come after me. she could be dead…_ "I'll be fine. First time I'm travelling on my own. I'm a wimp really."

"Oh. Well I'm travelling alone too. I've been given a scholarship to go to Gotham U. I'm going to attend an induction course ahead of the holidays. One day I hope to work for Wayne Industries. You know. Company with a soul."

"Doing what?"

"Programming, mostly, but I dabble in computer design too. Oh, geez I'm such a clutz." Synthia wiped her face with her hanky, and decided that this girl was very smart, but very normal. She'd be a good cover whilst travelling on the bus. "My Maa is always telling me to start with my name before my life story. I'm Beverly. But call me Bev for short. You?" Beverly offered her hand, showing she had an array of star trek and star wars rings and bracelets on. Oh yes, this girl was geek-Chic.

"Synthia." She shook the hand. "I don't have a nic-name."

"No worries. Synthia is a cool name? so you mind if I ride next to you?"

"No not at all. I think I'd like the company."

"Cool." Beverly flipped her laptop open and beamed a smile up at her. "I have lots of films on here. I bought them, of course. Want to watch one? It's a long trip to Gotham."

"Sure. Thanks."

They shared an earphone each and every now and then Beverly would initiate some small chat.

It took the best part of a Day to get to Gotham on the super highway, and in that time Synthia learnt a lot about nerdy little Beverly. She was 16, and a lot smarter than she let on. She wasn't shoving her big brain in her face, but you could just tell there was 70 things going on in her head at the same time. She also seemed to enjoy talking to her, and was very naïve. She was on a computing and programming scholarship alright, a full two years before she should be. She loved manga and comics, obviously, and looked forward to having her own kitten when she got her own apartment.

Awwww, really cute.

Synthia wished she could trade lives with Beverly. Her biggest concern was her studies and getting her dream job. Maybe making some friends.

 _I just have to avoid an entire blood cult and their demonic leader. Oh, and figure out a way to find my mum at the same time._

She couldn't begrudge Beverly her enthusiasm. She'd be in total meltdown had the girl not come over to cheer her up. She'd thought Synthia was just home sick. _Pfft. If only._

When they did arrive in Gotham Beverly shoved her laptop into her back pack and held a large suitcase. It looked full too. Synthia held her rucksack and sighed.

It was dark.

On the streets of Gotham.

With evil cultists after her.

Where the hell did she go?

"Bev?"

"Yup?" Her new 'friend' was stood at a Taxi rink, about to wave one of them over.

"Do you know where I can find a shop called The Dark Emporium?"

"Oh I'm new to Gotham too. So no, sorry. Erm…" Beverly scanned her hazel eyes over her once, and pushed her glasses up her nose. "where are you staying?" 

"Erm…a hostel…"

"In Gotham?! I don't _think_ so! You'll get stabbed for sure here! Come on." Beverly waved a cab over. "My aunt is out of town so I'm house sitting. You can come home with me."

"Oh, no Bev that's really nice of you. But I need to get to the Dark Emporium. My mum said she'd be on the next bus."

"then call her and tell her you're coming to 43rd street, apartment 23."

 _Call her…I don't have a cell…mum always thought we'd be traced._ "Just how do you expect to get to that shop? You have no money, right?"

Ah. She must have heard her mother say that when she paid for the ticket. "You don't have any money, you don't know where this shop is, and it's after eight on the streets of Gotham. It would be irresponsible of me to allow you to carry out this foolish action. Come on. I have wifi at my aunts. I'll get the address for you no problem. In the morning, I'll take you myself. Sounds like a place that does scented candles. I like those."

"Really? Thanks Bev. I really owe you one."

"Then you can be nice about my cooking. It's going to be microwave meals. Sorry." She giggled, pushed her glasses up her nose, and shoved her suitcase onto the floor of the cab. "Coming?"

Synthia sighed and nodded. Beverly was right. this was the smartest plan.

 _Besides…I saw mum being kidnapped. If she's alive, she's not going to be there 1 hour after me. and the shop will be shut now._

They got into the cab and Synthia resisted the urge to cry again. After witnessing her mother's abduction, she was so relieved to feel safe again. Beverly wouldn't be able to save her if the cultists came knocking, but at least for now they wouldn't know where to find her.

 _I just need to move on before they realise I went home with Bev. I'd hate to get her involved in all this._

"Ok. So it's not the ritz but it's exactly the kind of place I want to have one day. But with a few cats and much better internet service. It's good enough anyway." Beverly gave her a short tour of the kitchen, cosy living room, bathroom and two bedrooms. "I'll take the main one, you can have the spare. My aunt's a Lawyer, but you wouldn't know it from this place. She uses her money to go away a lot. She's in the Caribbean now, but it's work related. Or so she says." Bev giggled and immediately went to the router to get the wifi password. "Synthia make yourself at home."

It was then Synthia realised she'd been hovering in the doorway. She closed it and held her rucksack to her front.

"Are you sure I'm not imposing? If you find me the address of a hostel I could-"

"Nope!" Beverly dropped onto the brown sofa and her fingers flew over the keyboard of her laptop. "Really, being alone would have creeped me out. Besides, you're safe here. Behind a locked door…right?"

"Oh, right." the blonde quickly locked the door and put the bolts and chains over it.

"See? Much better. How much money did my aunt leave on the kitchen counter?"

Synthia shuffled over to said counter and did a stock of their money.

"There's thee $100 bills here."

"Awesome. My aunt has no concept of money. That's more than we need for one night. I have a card my parents pay an allowance onto to put me up whilst on this course."

"You're 16 right? And you've come all this way, alone? For how long?"

"Oh a few months. Then my aunt gets back and I move into halls of residence at Gotham U. feel free to stay here until my aunt comes back, if you like…and yeah. My parents are Stock traders. I never see them anyway so it makes no difference where I am _technically_."

 _She sounds…so lonely. No wonder she's naïvely invited a stranger into her home. It's a good thing I'm not a weirdo._

It was then Synthia sniggered to herself. _Well, aside from the whole blood cult looking for me thing._

"I'll pay you back for this Bev."

"You are. With your company! Now come on! I found a local delivery place for pizza!"

Beverly was beaming with joy. _She…really is lonely._

If her circumstances had been different, she'd have happily indulged in Beverly's hospitality. Even her friendship. But with Trigon and Brother Blood after her, she couldn't risk it. "I like ham and pineapple. You?"

"Sounds great." Synthia picked up her rucksack. "Can I take my things into the spare room?"

"Sure! Oh, and I live in pj's when I don't have to go anywhere. Just to warn you." leaving her laptop behind, Beverly skipped over to her suitcase and dragged it into the main bedroom.

"Fine by me!" Synthia shouted back and chuckled. Yes, she could have easily been friends with Beverly.

They emerged again with Beverly wearing black Pj's with a Batman symbol on it. it made Synthia raise a brow at the girl and point at her shirt.

"Well I thought, 'when in Gotham'?" they chuckled, and went to the sofa. Synthia wore plane pink pj's with dark pink flowers on them. Very girlie.

The pizza guy came, they paid, they ate pizza and watched a comedy on TV before going to bed. It was nice, behaving like a normal teenage girl for a while.

As Synthia snuggled down into bed however, she was plagued with worry for her mother. Was she alive? Had she gotten away? Would she be waiting outside the shop for her tomorrow and tell her off for not going straight there?

Or worse…would she never hear from her mother ever again.

She sobbed into her pillow, hoping that her kind host wouldn't hear her and come to comfort her. that would just make her worse.

Finally she drifted to sleep, her face and pillow damp from tears and her mind plagued with sorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

It was the smell that roused her to start with. Something teased her nose, reminding her of the barbeques her mother would attempt in the summer. She could definitely smell fire and smoke. She smiled in her sleepy state as her hair was stroked.

 _Mummy_!

Synthia beamed a smile and opened her eyes, still groggy from sleep. It took her a few seconds to bring the world back into focus.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The world around her was very red, had 4 yellow eyes and bright white hair. The same creature from her reflection that morning as now in front of her, in the flesh, and had been stroking her hair. Synthia was whimpering, snapping her head around her to look for an exit as she scrambled back from him.

"Can you hear me?" His voice was deep and had a layered effect to it, making him sound exactly as she imagined a demon would. Devious, confident and _definitely_ not to be trusted.

"L-L-Leave me alone. Just leave me alone!" Her back came up against something hard, preventing her escape from going any further.

The monster stood to his full height. She flushed, realising he wore very little. Thigh high white boots a thin belt around his lower hips held a long white hanging skirt in place. The buckle of this belt was a skull with four eyes etched onto it. His vast torso and arms were bare, showcasing his rippling muscles as he walked towards her. He wore a white livery collar, holding a billowing white cape to his back. As he got closer Synthia locked her terrified baby blues up at four yellow eyes.

She squeaked when he lowered to sit before her. with the hard _thing_ behind her, she could move. She also couldn't see an escape route anywhere.

Just a 'hell' of a lot of fire…

The ground beneath her was orange and felt cold, despite the fires around her. there was no sky, just more orange rock. Maybe she was in a cavern somewhere?

"Can you hear me? Marilith?"

"M-my name isn't maryltith." He chuckled. He bloody chuckled at her! he readjusted to cross his legs, his hanging skirt barely hiding his…modestly… "How did I get here?"

"I brought you here." He smirked. "How well you mother hid you from me. She made that fool father of yours think you'd died in the womb."

"I don't have a father. And if you brought me here, than you can damn well send me back!" she shouted.

He blinked all four eyes at her.

 _Oh shit. I just ran my mouth at a demon! I'm so dead! RIP Synthia, you bloody idiot._ "I…want to go back."

"I've waited over nearly 2 decades for you." The creature she damn well knew to be Trigon reached for her. she jerked her head back against the rock and turned her face away from him.

"p-p-please d-don't hurt me!"

"I would not _dare_ harm you Marilith." He cackled, showing he was not trying to reassure her in the slightest. It was like this whole thing was a joke to him. "After the trouble I went through to send the remaining ether to Brother Blood to impregnate your mother, it would be _very_ counterproductive to harm you, Marilith."

"My name is Synthia." She snapped. Her chest heaved as she was hyperventilating. Her head was getting dizzy and she was about to go out of her mind with fear.

So screw it. "What? Do you think that makes _you_ my dad then? Is ether code for demon cum or something?"

Those four eyes blinked at her again, and then he roared with laughter. He bounced his hand on his knee and teetered with mirth, all the while Synthia felt her cheeks burn red. "Well don't just laugh at me!" her hands clenched into fists by her side. Not that Trigon noticed. Or perhaps he didn't care? Either and both could be true.

"I am not your father. I simply ensured you came into being…in a very specific way."

"Yeah. Mum told me of her rape. Thanks for that. making me a rape baby."

"That was Brother Blood's decision not to tell her. I simply commanded that you were born the way you are. I care not for the trivialities as to how it was done, just that it was."

Her face was almost as red as his by this point.  
"That's my _mother_ you just called a 'triviality' you bastard."

He smirked down at her.

"You are trying to anger me."

"No shit." Synthia turned and once again willed a door to appear for her to escape this literal hell. She yelped when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. He'd reached for her again. This time he didn't stop at her recoil. His firm hand cupped her cheek, and she glared at him.

That's it.

She no longer gave a damn for her mortal life. If he was going to kill her, he wasn't going to bloody toy with her first.

She opened her mouth and turned her face to chomp down on his hand. Synthia chewed and chomped as hard as she could. After a minute of gnawing on his hand…she retracted her teeth and looked at his unmarred red skin.

"You…thought I'd be vulnerable to that?" Trigon chuckled and lowered the hand. At first this was a relief.

Until the hand clenched to take a fistful of her pink pj top and pull her body forward like it weighed nothing. Synthia screamed, and found herself on her back.

On his lap.

He was a foot taller than her, and his right arm cradled her back, holding her in place.

"Oh hell no." she tried to clamber off his lap, but on hand on her shoulder yanked her back into position. "Let me go!"  
"Never Marilith. You were _literally_ made for me. And you _will_ fulfil your purpose."

"Fuck you!" she hissed, and pushed her hands against his firm red chest. No matter how hard she pushed, he didn't move an inch, nor was she liberated. In fact, Trigon leaned close enough for her to feel his breath on her face. What he said next would forever haunt her.

"That's the idea."

Despite having no pupils in any of the four yellow eyes he had, she felt the intensity of that sentiment. "You would of course be my Wife, so it would be _expected_ for you to 'fuck me'." he chuckled deeply and bounced her on his lap. "You haven't come into your powers at all, have you? so you won't be able to resist my advances. I anticipate by the time you do, you'll not want to leave the _marital bed_ in any regard. My sweet, sharp tongued Marilith."

"Why do you keep calling me that?!" she pelted her hands on his chest, but he just chuckled at her 'cute' antics. "Why won't you say my name?"

"I'll make you a deal." He cradled her closer and licked his lips, making her skin crawl. "I'll call you by your chosen name, if you call me by mine."

Her mother's words thundered around her head.

 _"_ _Never, ever say his name. You will give him power if you do."_

"I hear that's a _bad_ idea."

"For whom?" Trigon was so close he could have stolen a kiss if he wanted to. This thought made Synthia turn her head. "For _you_ it's very _good_ idea. After all, we must be in the same realm for my seed to find root within your womb."

"…oh shit." She did her upmost to scramble of his lap. He just held her hips and prevented her every adorable attempt. He just laughed with mirth, totally amused by her rebellious nature. "No thank you."

"It's not a request Marilith. It's ordained. You were literally born to be my wife."

"Like I said. No thank you!" Synthia clawed at the ground, trying so hard to get away from him. "I don't want to be raped! It's bad enough you caused brother _bastard_ to do that to my mother. Who might be dead for all I know!" she screamed, her grief at the futility of her actions, and the unknown fate of her mother holding her down even more tightly than Trigon.

"I will never rape you Marilith." He yanked her back to sit up in his arms and stroked her hair. She just cried hard, holding her own face as she wept. "There there Marilith. Soon we will be together, and I will make Earth my new kingdom. Together we will rule, and you will spawn me many powerful children. More powerful than my previous _sinful_ children." He pressed his mouth by her ear and nuzzled against her. "I will give you the world. To do with as you please. As long as you give me children, Marilith. It was why you were created. To be my rightful wife. My last wife Arella was weak, and she gave me weak children. She was mortal. A simple human." His lips ghosted over her cheek, and she turned her body as much as she could away from that _monster_ 's attempts at affection. "But you my dear Marilith are _far_ from human."

"Yes I am!" she screamed up at him, her face wet from tears. "I can't do any magic! I've never done magic or have any powers or-"

"Your powers are awakening Marilith. It's how I sensed you." she gulped deeply, and returned to sobbing.

The beast had the nerve to rock her in his arms, like he wasn't the source of her anguish and could calm her.

"Mm…mmm….my…"

"Yes Marilith?" he whispered, nuzzling the top of her golden head, still rocking her.

"My name…is Synthia!" With every ounce of energy she had left she brought her fist up to punch him in the face. She connected, for what it's worth.

Which was very little.

He barked with laughter, and bounced her on his lap. Synthia was shocked at how a full punch to the face did _nothing_ to him, and then she realised that it had the opposite effect on her. "FUCK!" she screamed, cradling her broken hand, the skin over her knuckles broken and fingers jutting in weird angles.

"You are a perfect match for me. Amusing _and_ a demonic temper." He grabbed her injured wrist and inspected it. "When your powers develop, I anticipate violent sex with you." Synthia was still screaming in pain from her hand when he swiped his tongue over her knuckles. Before she could howl at him for agitating her broken hand…she noticed the pain had disappeared. "I am renowned for my acts of cruelty. But never are my acts of _generosity_ depicted so vividly. To _you_ Marilith, and you alone, I intend to be _very_ generous."

He released her hand, and Synthia was totally mesmerised by it. she wiggled her fingers, rolled her wrist, turned it to inspect the palm, then held it to her chest. "Please don't hit me again Marilith. You'll hurt yourself." He kissed the top of her head…and all the fight left her. it was _literally_ a futile exercise to lash out at him. "That's better." He must have sensed her submission. "Say my name and we'll be together on Earth."

"No."

Just because she wasn't going to hit him again, didn't mean she wasn't going to do _everything_ she could to resist becoming his demonic baby making slave.

"No?" he narrowed his four yellow eyes on her curiously. "Perhaps I must show my power to you by coming to the Earth realm first. So you may trust my might and give yourself to me?"

"Whatever. I'm not helping you." she looked around them again. "Where are we?"

"My Nether realm. Another dimension and world entirely. The world…where I was born. I had thought you'd give birth to my children here, but alas you are powerless and on Earth. So I must come to you."

"I not going along with this."

"Oh Marilith. It's not a choice." he kissed the top of her head again, and sighed. "I mourned you. I used the last of the dark ether in the ritual to make you. Had you died, I would never have had a worthy bride. Or sire all-powerful children, as I was _meant to_."

 _Lucky me._ she snidely remarked to herself. "When I reached out and saw you, I was elated with joy."

"Funny that. When I saw _you_ I was horrified." She braced herself for impact, but instead he bloody laughed at her again.

"You would not be worthy if you were another snivelling worshipper. When I conquer you, it will be totally and satisfyingly complete." Synthia did her best to glare up at him, but if anything she just looked vulnerable. "You must stay safe on Earth Marilith. Do not allow those who rise against me to learn of you."

"Why? Because they'd help me hide from you?" _that's an idea…_

"No my sweet. They'd kill you." her heart dropped into her stomach. "To prevent you coming to a power that equals my own, as you were conceived in the _exact same way_ as I was. They will also do what they deem they must to prevent you from siring my children. Until I come to Earth, or you come into your powers at least, you are in grave danger. Until then, you are basically mortal. My enemies will kill you before they no longer have the option. So." He patted her head, trying to reassure her.

And failing. "Stay safe. I will send my cultists for you so you might be treated as a goddess should be while you wait my arrival."

 _Well_ _that's_ _not happening._ "Where are you at the moment? Is it safe?" As if he tried to sound concerned. That angered her more than anything. He stared at her, clearly waiting for her to elaborate. When she didn't, he growled for the first time since she'd 'met' him.

It vibrated through his chest and into her. terror clawed up into her mouth and held her lips shut.

"Where are you right now? I will send my followers to rescue you and keep you safe."

She said nothing.

Synthia just stared up into those yellow eyes. Finally, something he couldn't force from her. "…you intend to defy me?"

"…that's…what it looks like…" She chewed her lips. If he could break her hand in her 'sleep' when she punched him…Synthia dreaded to think what damage he could do if he hit _her_.

"I see." Trigon stroked his red chin, regarding her for a moment. "You are at least _safe_? Are you not?"

She gulped. He was difficult to read, for a demon. Was he angry at her? annoyed? Amused? She couldn't tell. He was definitely intrigued by her, at least. "Marilith? Does your tongue fail you?"

"My tongue works fine. Thanks." _Oh sweet lord I am ASKING for a demonic slap to the face._

"I will not send you back to your body until you tell me if you are safe or not." He smirked.

Ah. There was that. He brought her here, he was the only one who could send her back.

An idea struck her then. He wasn't the only one who could make an ultimatum.

"I'll tell you if I'm safe or not, _if_ you tell me if my _mother_ is safe or not." Synthia folded her arms over her chest and did her best 'tough guy' impression.

It didn't really work when you were wearing pink pj's, tear stained cheeks and chewing your lips. But ah well. What didn't reassure her was the mighty grin that grew across his lips.

"How devilish of you. I agree. You first."  
"No, _you_ first."

He cackled with delight and rubbed her back. she tensed, but tried to hold her ground.

"I want to bed you. So defiant. So full of fire."

"No." she felt adrenaline do a return lap around her body. "Y-you said you wouldn't rape me."

"If I wanted to, I could make you want me." The red demon lord seemed pretty damn confident. She glared up at him and her eyes _clearly_ said that was _not_ going to happen. "It seems we are at a standoff. If I reveal the state of your mother's current health, I have no reassurances that you will indeed tell me if you're safe. And that isn't enough of an exchange anyway." Synthia arched a blonde brow at him.

"What would be?"

"The city in which you reside, as well."

Oh shit. "And you go first. I _insist."_ She opened her mouth to argue. "Or you can simply enjoy my company. Your body will no doubt be found and taken to hospital, thinking you're in a coma. Then your details will be entered into record, and Brother Blood will find you regardless."

 _Well shit. He's got me there._ "Ah, I believe you've realised the inevitability of me getting what I want." Suddenly, this all powerful demon reminded her of a spoilt brat. Always getting his way.

"OOoooooooooooooow!" Synthia groaned with frustration. He was right. she couldn't wait him out. He had no guarantee she'd do as she promised. _And_ he'd added the city to the bargain. If she'd just told him she was safe, maybe that would have been enough. _Damn it I just had to push my luck._ "I'm-"

"I can also tell if you lie." He winked at her with the two left eyes…super creepy… "I thought I'd warn you first. So you don't waste _either_ of our time."

"I…I'm safe." She inhaled deeply and chewed her lips.

"…and?" he took a lock of her golden hair and twirled it around his finger. She grunted and took the lock back. he just smirked at her, amused at her antics again.

"Gotham. Ok? Now you tell me about my mother. Right now."

"She is dead." He blinked slowly. Synthia stopped breathing. "She was taken in for interrogation and wouldn't give up your location to Brother Blood. In his rage, he killed her."

"…a…aa…..m…my….m…mmm…mummy…" fresh tears stun her cheeks and her whole body shuck. Trigon rubbed her back, and she didn't flinch from his touch this time.

"They needn't have bothered. Had they consulted their failure with me first, I would have simply told them I'd pull your dream self into my realm and find out where you are in my own way. pity. She'd have made a good hostage to make you come in. humans. They never think ahead." His voice was even, like they were remarking on a bad game of soccer. Oh what a shame they missed that goal. They should have known better really. Coach Trigon could have given them some tips to save the match.

Synthia cried her heart out of her eyes and into her hands. Her worst fear had come true. "I hope you appreciate that I could have lied to you and given you false hope, and I did not. I will _never_ lie to you Marilith."

"I-I-I want t-t-to go b-b-back n-n-now."

"Let me sooth you first." He tried to pull her close to his body for an embrace.

"Impossible." She hissed. "I hate you. You disgust me you _monster_."

Synthia no longer gave a damn about her personal safety, it seemed. "Send me back!" The angry blonde screamed in his face. "NOW!"

"I will see you soon." He ignored her outburst, and tried to kiss her head. She recoiled and threw herself from his lap. "Think on this exchange Marilith. You are to be my bride. I _am_ coming to Earth. Then you _will_ give me worthy heirs."

"Go to hell!"

"No dear. I'm bringing hell to _you_." Synthia held herself and turned onto her side. She sobbed and sobbed so hard, she couldn't see anymore. Her grief was total and all consuming. Her mother, the one person in her whole life who had loved her was dead. Because of her. because of Trigon.

"Y-y-you're wrong. I'm already in Hell." She felt his lips on her cheek, and she whirled herself round to rain her fists down on his face. Damn the consequences.

Only to find she was faced with a dark bedroom. She was still panting, and dripping with tears, but she was _definitely_ back in Gotham. Somehow Synthia knew that wasn't just a dream. She had actually been in the Nether realm with Trigon, and her mother was dead.

 _In the morning I need to go straight to that shop. Get the help mother told me about and leave. Trigon knows I'm in Gotham. I need to hide. From…everyone…_

Her watery blue eyes scanned the darkness and landed on the digital clock. It was 1am. _Might as well try to get some sleep before I make my desperate get away. Poor Bev. She was so nice to me and I need to leave quickly._

Exhausted from the sheer amount of trauma she'd been through Synthia actually fell asleep quickly. She had nightmares of her mother, holding her dying body and Trigon laughing at them both. But at least…she slept.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

Something was wrong. Beverly had gotten up that morning and beamed with a smile. She'd found some batter mix and some water in the fridge. She was going to make pancakes for breakfast and ask her new friend Synthia if she wanted to go on a guided tour of Gotham. She'd also looked up that shop the dark emporium for her, and thought they might go shopping together. She'd never been shopping with a girl friend before. Oh the possibilities.

Dressed in brown Ugg boots, black leggings, a knee length brown dress and with long sleeves overhanging her knuckles, she was ready for sightseeing. Too bad Synthia wasn't.

"Oh good morning sleepy head." Beverly took her hands away from her keyboard and scampered over her friend. Synthia wore blue jeans, plain white trainers and a pink hoodie with the symbols of various cute emoticons on the front. Sheepishly Synthia had her rucksack on her back and her hands in her hoodie pockets. "Erm…why do you look like you're leaving?"

"I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me. you're really great."

"…I sense a but." Beverly sighed and folded her arms over her chest.

"I have to get going. To…meet up with my mum." Synthia gulped slowly, like something she said was akin to swallowing her own bile. "Thanks again for everything."

"Well erm, no problem." Bev chewed her lips and sadness danced in her hazel eyes. "So you going to be in Gotham long? We could meet up and-"

"My Mum moves a lot with work. I think we'll be leaving straight after she does her business."

"At the dark emporium?" Bev picked up a piece of note paper from her side on the kitchen table. she looked longingly down at the address scribbled there. "If I asked to come with you, you'd give me a reason not to, right?" she huffed and offered the paper to her 'friend'. "So I won't ask."

"…thank you." Synthia took the offered paper, and felt like such a let-down. "It's not you. You're so nice. I've moved around so much in my life I've never really been in one place long enough to have a real friend. If my circumstances were different, you'd be someone I'd like to be friends with."

"Sure." Beverly sighed and waved her off. "I…goodbye I guess."

"Goodbye Bev. Thanks again for the hospitality."

Synthia felt like such an ass. She could tell Bev had been really looking forward to having her around. It was like she could smell the loneliness coming off her in waves. Her heart was heavy as she walked out of the door.

 _Its not my fault I'm the intended unholy bride of Trigon, on the run from his cultists and the red bastard's plans to make me have his evil babies…otherwise I'd love to have fun with Beverly. Be a normal girl for once._

She was invisible amongst the throngs of people as she walked the streets of Gotham. She asked a passing police officer for directions and soon enough she was facing a typical gothic looking wicca store. Was it wicca? Or witchcraft? Light or dark magic?

At this stage Synthia didn't care. As long she could get something inside to hide her from Trigon.

As she pushed the door open the chime was normal enough. The windows were tinted so passers-by couldn't peer into the shop. As you'd expect the curtains were black, all the furniture was made of mahogany and there were shelves and shelves of freaky looking shit. Jars of picked and shredded herbs, as well as body parts she _really_ didn't want to identify.

"You entered my store without needing my permission. You must be kin."

A woman walked through a red curtain by the till and suited the scenery around her to a T. A long black dress with flared lacy sleeves and a hood on top of her aging grey hair. Her eyes were white…and her hands were bony and tipped with sharp nails. "Otherwise my wards would have prevented your entry."

"I am here for…something." Synthia took her hands out of her pink hoodie pockets and gestured with them. Her long blonde hair sat on her left shoulder and a thick plat, and her baby blues showed her desperation. "My…my _mother_ said you were a friend of hers."

"Oh? And who is your mother?" Synthia's eyes watered and she sniffled.

"My mother…was Edna Harper." The grin on the old woman's face slipped.

"Was? What do you mean was? What happened to Edna?" Synthia trembled and wrapped her arms around herself.

"She was killed. Protecting me." The dark crone cussed something in a tongue she didn't understand, and took up a stick of sage. She lit it and started chanting and waving it around them.

"Was it your father?" the woman sneered. "He found her at last did he?"

"…yes…" her voice was like a whisper. Having to pretend everything was fine around Beverly was so hard. At least now she could let the depth of her sadness out from simply clawing at her insides. "…so you know?"

"I'm the one that got your pregnant mother out of there in the first place. And that was after I helped to fake her pregnancy test. I'm Agatha, by the way."

"Synthia." She sniffled and wiped her tears on the back of her hand. "My mum told me to come here no matter what. She said you'd have something to help hide me from…them."

"Has Trigon found you yet?"

Synthia chewed her lips and hesitated. Trigon had warned her that anyone who learned her true identity would kill her rather than risk her becoming some supper demon. But this Agatha seemed to already know everything. She was also desperate for help.

"I saw him in my reflection yesterday and last night he pulled me into this Nether realm. So disgusting." She trembled. "He behaved like I belonged to him and he was so strong I couldn't stop him playing me like I was a fucking ragdoll."

"Did you have sex?"

"No!" she yelled. Synthia felt her skin crawl at the thought of it. "the sick fuck thinks he's going to 'win me over'. By coming to Earth from wherever the hell he is."

"I see. You don't know anything, do you? About your would-be husband?"

"I know not to say his name." Agatha ushered her towards the back of the shop. "I know he's a demon."

"What else do you know about Trigon?" she followed Agatha through the red curtain and found that the back of the shop looked like a normal house. Lino floors, pine cupboards and everything. To boot there was a little Jack Russel dog sat on a pink fluffy rug by the fireplace. Such a contrast to the gothic ambiance of the store. "Sit." She pointed to a set of small stools by a round table in the kitchenette. "Who is trigon?"

"I told you a demon."

"Oh poor child. So clueless." Agatha clicked her fingers and the kettle to her right started to steam at the spout. She retrieved two tea cups and poured a red liquid into them both.

The liquid was suspiciously thick. "Just having the conversation we're about to have will attract unwanted attention. Drink this, to shield our words from the wrong ears."

"But no one else is here." Synthia sat before Agatha and peered down at the thick red liquid. It look too much like blood for her to do as she was told.

"Not…physically." Agatha took her cup and chugged it back in one go, leaving a crimson smear on her lips. "Do it. I'm not risking my life to help you if you don't do as I say."

 _Mum trusted her. I…don't have a lot of other options here._ Synthia nodded and followed Agatha's example.

"What the fuck!?" she brought some of it back up into her mouth.

"You will swallow that down. Now." the old woman's stern words were like a spell, forcing her throat to open and 'readmit' the red sludge back towards her stomach. "Ok. It's now safe to talk. Listen carefully as I'll only tell you this once." She lit another stick of sage, and left it to burn on a silver plaque by her side. "Trigon is not just _any_ demon. He was brought into being by mortals who magically rejected all their darker emotions and thoughts. They cleansed themselves to become pure. The only problem with that is it meant all those impurities…those _sins_ …had to go _somewhere."_ Synthia gulped. She knew exactly where they went. "These mortals sealed their _demonic energies_ , so to speak, in a pure ether form and banished it from their realm. This was perfectly fine for them to do. Except another race called upon those energies and impregnated one of their order." Agatha wet her lips and hesitated only for a moment. "This ritual required many souls to be sacrificed to bring the energies forth and then lock them into the womb of the chosen 'magical maiden'. Blood sacrifice. The taking of a virgin. Does this sound…familiar?"

"Mum…described something just like that. no, _exactly_ like that." she felt sick, and not from the funky red tea. "So tr-I mean." She caught herself. "That red guy was made the same way I was?"

"Yes." Agatha seemed very nervous. "Had you been trained from birth you would already be a force that rivalled Trigon in force and magical prowess. However, I told Edna that if she allowed you to practise _any_ magic, he would sense you. When I learned what Brother Blood had done to her I had to act. I knew the only chance she had of living, and for you to _not_ bring about the next coming of Trigon and the end of this world was to run. Both Trigon and Brother Blood had to believe you didn't exist. The ritual had failed. Then your mother had to run before Brother Blood acted out his rage at his failure upon her. your mother cast annual spells to suppress your magic to protect you. But…the older you became…the more blood magic your mother had to use to continue to supress you. every time she killed-"

"What?!" Synthia banged her fists on the desk. "My mother never-"

"Your mother was selected to _be_ your mother on the soul grounds of how powerful and bloodthirsty she was. She later regretted being that person, but that did not mean for a _second_ that Edna didn't tap into that cutthroat part of herself to keep _you_ safe." Synthia felt tears coming to her eyes.

"Mum… _killed_ people to keep me safe?"

"She spilt their blood, incanted the dark tongue and _drank_ the energy into herself to shield your existence." Agatha was apparently not a woman to pull her punches. Even when it was clear that her words were breaking the poor girl's heart. "Synthia? She loved you _that much_ that she risked her soul to protect you. and in the end she _died_ to protect you." Synthia was holding her long blonde plat over her left shoulder and chewing her lips. Unfortunately ignoring her tears didn't stop them from falling. "Now. Trigon himself is not a demon to dismiss. He murdered his mother and all of the cult that created him as a baby. By 1 he controlled the whole planet, as astounding as that sounds. By 6 he was conquering multiple planets all at once with a demonic army by his side. By 30 he held all dominion over his entire dimension. That's when he started travelling to other realms to dominate those as well."

"He mentioned a first wife." Synthia wiped her tears, starting to feel anger rather than sorrow. "Arella, I think."

"Ah yes. Your predecessor." She mocked Synthia, and clicked her fingers at the kettle again. "Before Arella there were many women Trigon had his way with. Some willing…most not. Many of them killed their own children either during pregnancy or after they gave birth for fear of what monsters they'd carried. Some even killed themselves. Arella however was was a cultist. An amateur but a very unlucky one. Her circle tried to summon the devil, but instead shifted Arella into the dimension where Trigon reside. Temporarily of course, but it was long enough for Trigon to impregnate her. he waited for the child to be born before summoning her permanently to his side."

"Could he do that to me?!"

"No dear. Not without help from this side." Agatha patted her hands on the table and for the first time since they'd met she smiled at her. "As long as we keep you hidden, you'll avoid that fate. Anyway as I was saying." She took her hands back, seeing Synthia was visibly calmer. "Arella sired the sin demon of Pride within the famous heroine Raven. But the other sins were born of his previous…'encounters'. Together they embody the 7 deadly sins. Pride, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth and Envy."

"What happened to Arella?"

Agatha's stern look and silence told her all she needed to know. " _he_ killed her. didn't he?"

"She sided with Good and the light. She tried to stop Trigon from rising. He viewed that as betrayal and…killed her."

"Shit." Synthia sniffled and steeled herself for the next question. "He said that I'm powerless to resist him. I have no powers because my mother did blood magic to hide me from him. All because if I used my powers 'he' would be able to find me. so I have to stay powerless to stay hidden. That doesn't help me if he can just yank my mind over to his realm as I sleep. So _please_ tell me you can give me something to stop him pulling that bullshit?"

"I do." Agatha smirked and winked at her. "I've been waiting for this day. I thought your mother would be alive for it, but never mind." the old woman got to her feet and walked over to her cabinet by her fridge. She retrieved a small plain wooden box and gave it to Synthia. "The amulet inside took me 10 years to make, and 2 years to empower. Using… _similar_ methods to what your mother had to use to protect you. Wear it and Trigon won't be able to see you. it will be like you suddenly don't exist to him."

Synthia eagerly flipped the lid off the box and stared down at the necklace. A thick silver chain held a silver amulet in the shake of a rough kite. A deep red ruby ordained the front. it wasn't what she was expecting. "Don't open it."

"Open?" she lifted it from the box and turned the amulet onto its side. There was indeed a clasp there. "Why?"  
"You'll let the hex out." Agatha took the necklace from her and gently tied it around her neck. "Inside is a skull with horns, representing Trigon. The skull wears a blindfold, and the hex personifies that to shield you from all his powers. All forms of sight."

"How can I ever repay you?"

"You can get out before blood cultists come looking for you here and kill me." She spoke softly and yet her eyes were deadly serious. "Now leave and never come back. if you are captured never reveal the pendant you wear, or where you got it from." Synthia stood up and nodded. "Put the amulet beneath your clothes so it can't bee seen."

"Of course." She did so quickly.

"Sleep with it on and Trigon won't be able to enter your dreams or manipulate your mind."

"Thank you so much. I just need to find some way to get out of Gotham now without any money and I'm set."

"I suggest the train lines." Agatha was herding her out towards the shop again. The cops in Gotham have enough to do on the streets without watching who jumps onto certain cargo trains."

"Great. Thank you so much!" they walked through the red curtain and Synthia placed her right hand over the amulet beneath her hoodie. "I'll leave straight away."  
"Take this with you." Synthia paused her escape by the front door. She watched as Agatha go behind the counter by the till, take a set of keys from around her neck and opened a draw in the counter. She took a large black book from the draw and had to use both hands to carry it over to her. "This was your mother's Grimoire. With that amulet in place you are now free to practise your magic. To my knowledge your mother didn't have chance to do the 18th annual suppression ceremony. She planned to do it with me, after all. The fact Trigon found you shows your powers are returning. You will need to learn to control your powers so they do not control you. I also do this with one request." Synthia took her rucksack off her back and opened it wide, allowing Agatha to push the tomb into it.

"Anything."

"Use your immense powers you're going to gain for good. be a force for the light. Not the dark. No matter your origins or your demonic powers, you still have a _choice_ Synthia. You still have a soul."

"I'll bring that bastard down one day. I swear it."

"Wrath is a sin my dear." Agatha stroked her cheek and sighed. She saw so much of a young Edna in the girl.

That's what worried her. "Act in the name of justice. Not vengeance."

"I will." Synthia nodded and placed her rucksack on her back again. "Goodbye Agatha. I'll never forget your kindness, but I'll make sure to forget your name."

And just like that Synthia pushed the door open and felt safe for the fist time since she parted ways with her mother.

 _At least I will be once I hop a train out of Gotham. Anywhere but here._

Trigon was grinning and twirling a quill over a piece of parchment. He was drawing dresses he intended to have made out of the finest silks and muslins for Marilith. So she was dressed as a queen for his arrival.

 _And then I'll undress her. I will celebrate my imminent domination of Earth between my bride's thighs._ He chuckled to himself, putting the finishing touches on this design when he felt it.

Like someone had reached inside of him and pulled something out, leaving a gaping wound in its place.

He rose from his throne and roared with such rage the ground beneath him shook with it. The parchment and quill disintegrated as he emulated himself in flames. Only two things could have happened. Someone had aided his precious Marilith to hide her essence from him, or she was dead.

 _For Brother Blood's sake it had better not be the latter._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

 _This is so boring._

Beverly sighed as she stared at her computer screen. It had been a whole week since she'd arrived in Gotham. She'd seen the sights and patiently waited for her induction course to start. She'd put up with the expected level of ridicule when she signed in to the Gotham U reception by her future peers. Comments like 'the university nursery is that way' and 'are you lost little girl?'

She put up with these comments with a smile. It didn't matter. Once she showed she was just as smart as any of them she was sure to find a friend.

Bev sighed and twiddled her thumbs.

She'd taken the same opening exam as everyone else, and at first panicked she'd not met the pass grade. She was singled out from the crowd and walked into a separate room. she was provided with another blank computer and given another computing exam.

Afterwards they took her to a waiting room, where she had been sat for the good part of an hour now. _did I do something wrong? I'm supposed to be in a designing seminar right now._ Bev looked at her watch and sighed. _I'm missing all the good workshops! I was really looking forward to-_

"Bevery Hunt?" Bev blinked through her glasses and jumped to her feet. Unlike most of her peers that still dressed like they were in high school, she'd tried to make herself look older by wearing a smart pair of black wedge heels, black tights, a black pencil skirt, a white blouse and a black lady's jacket. Her short brown hair was freshly washed and combed that morning, and she was sure she looked more like a potential Wayne industries future employee than any of the other students here. Even so, she was still 16. When three men in suits came in to the room and pulled up chairs on the other side of the table, she did feel intimidated by them. "Do you drink coffee?"

"I don't. but I drink Tea."

"I'll have some sent for." The first man who took the middle seat opposite her looked like a regular big shirt. Pressed black Armani suit, matching cufflinks and dapper short black haircut. "Leave us." He spoke to the other two, and they left.

 _Oh thank goodness for that._ being one and one made Beverly feel like she wasn't in as much trouble. "So you got 100% on not one, but two university level exams. The second we were watching your every move externally and internally, and you still aced it. what a brain you have Miss Hunt."

"Please call me Beverly." She resisted telling him to call her Bev. They weren't friends after all. "May I ask why I'm not with the other students?"

"Because the closest score any of those _morons_ got after you was 73%. You got 100%. Twice." The door opened and in came one of the other goons who looked just like him, but wearing an ear piece and black sunglasses. He held a tray and placed it down before her.

 _Looks like I can make my own tea. Lovely. But why…why are they being so…weirdly accommodating with me?_

Not to be Rude, Beverly popped a teabag into the mug and poured the hot water from the small teapot into it. she then used a very small jug to at milk to it. "All that with a public school education. No wonder you're a prodigy."

"Please don't treat me any differently because of my age, sir."

"Call me Smith." Bev raised a brow at him and doubted very much that he'd given her his real name. "And you're not being singled out by your age, but by your intellect. You have a promising future ahead of you. I'd like, if I may, to set you a challenge."

Smith waved at the window behind him, making her think that it must be one of those two way windows. She sipped her tea as the same goon from before reappeared. But this time holding a very large case.

"What kind of challenge?"

"Have you ever heard of the Turing test?"

"No way." Bev placed her tea down and leaned forward with wide hazel eyes. "Oh my God. Seriously? you want me to test an AI?"

"I'm going to give you a very expensive satellite computer, courtesy of Wayne industries. You are going to have two contacts. Mr Alpha and Mr Beta. You are going to converse with them both. One is a clever man and one is a very clever machine. I will not tell you which is which. You have until the end of the induction course to decide which personality is the AI. Bear in mind however that the true AI has been designed to learn from you. if you discover which one is the AI before the end of the induction period, I'll give you a nice bonus. But you will be expected to continue to converse with the AI so it can learn from you."

"Learn what from me?"

"Emotional intelligence." He pushed the dark burgundy briefcase over the table to her and smiled. "Do you accept this challenge?"

"Are you kidding me? I've always dreamed about creating an AI. Or at least working with one. Oh my days a real life Turing test." She smoothed her hands over the case like it was delicate and she feared breaking it. "Where will I work?"

"At home." He got to his feet and put his hands in his Armani suit pockets. "I said it was a satellite latop. It connect only to our servers through a secure connection. We will monitor everything you do to this laptop and record all your conversations.

"I get to work from home too?!" she envisaged the best work of her life, and getting to do it in her pj's. _epic!_ "I'm so in." she pulled the case towards her and cradled it to her chest. "Thank you for this opportunity Mr Smith."

"On behalf of Wayne industries I look forward to your findings Miss Hunt."

She was ushered out of the office and put onto an elevator before she knew it. then to the reception area and signed out.

With expensive Wayne tech in her hands she wasn't going to risk being mugged on the bus or train. She splashed out for a cab, and still held the case to her chest.

She couldn't get into her apartment fast enough. As soon as Bev locked the door behind her she was hurrying over to the kitchen table, unlocking the clasp of the brief case and pulling out a sexy looking white laptop. She flipped it open and it started up straight away.

"Here we go!" Bev giggled and waited for the start up screen to finish loading. Then two icons appeared on her blue screen. Mr Alpha was red and Mr Beta was blue. She traced her middle finger over the mouse pad and chewed her lip.

 _Who do I start with? I know I'm excited about this, but I should really have a plan. What kind of questions to ask. Oh and I should make notes so the AI can't tell I'm doing it._

Bev scampered over to her Aunt's draws in the kitchen, pulling out a pen and notepad. She ripped off her Aunt's last shopping list and ran back to the table. licking her lips she shrugged her suit jacket off and undid the first two buttons. _Ok. So who do I talk to first?_ She scanned her Hazel eyes over the red lettering of Mr Alpha in the first circle, and then the blue lettering of Mr Beta in the second one. _Well Alpha is first…_

So she clicked Beta.

The screen turned aqua blue and a white cursor blinked at the top left of the screen. Her hands jumped to the keyboard.

######Author's note will indicate typed speech, and " will still mean spoken speech#########

Hello.

Good morning. I am Mr Beta. What shall I call you?

Beverly giggled with glee. Without thinking she typed in the same screen name she used in blogs and playing MMO's online.

Miss Kitty.

"Oh my God. I…just entered that into a Wayne industries monitored server…shit!" blushing like crazy and resembling a hissing cat in that moment she smacked her own forehead. "SO much for trying not to draw attention to my damn age!

I am pleased to meet you Miss Kitty. How is your day so far?

It's great thank you. I'm looking forward to getting to know you.

You are? That's interesting. What would you like to know about me?

 _Are you the AI?_ Beverly thought it would be cheating to just ask him outright.

Lot's of things Mr Beta. I think time will tell where our conversations go. I'm excited.

I have spoken to many employees of WayneTech but never have they been excited to get to know me. Interesting. This is a new experience for me.

Bev ran a hand back through her brown hair and jotted down on the note pad. Was he trying to act like an AI to throw her off, or was he an AI who doesn't realise that saying something like that would give it away?

Cool. So let's trade information. To get to know each other. I'll as you a question about yourself, and you answer honestly. Then you get to ask me a question and I'll answer honestly. Is that ok?

A most efficient strategy. Feel free to start Miss kitty.

Beverly blushed, still reeling with embarrassment over her screen name appearing in his text lines, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

I live in Gotham. Where do you live?

I also live in Gotham. You use certain phrases associated with being young. How old are you Miss Kitty?

Bev tried to ignore how pervy it sounded for some guy on a computer to ask her age. If he was an AI however, it would make sense for him to analyse her speech patterns and wish to collaborate his findings.

I'm 16.

That is young for you to attend the induction course for Gotham University. You must be quite talented.

Bev jotted down that he wasn't constricted the rules of questioning. He was starting a conversation within the back and forth of questions. A simple computer program would have simply taken the answer and waited for the next question. That didn't mean he wasn't an AI though. He could be a very complicated AI. The idea of a Turing test was to discover if it was the AI, and if he could pass for a human.

I work hard. Now it's my turn Mr Beta. How old are you?

I am sorry Miss Kitty but the parameters of our interaction prevent me from directly giving you information that would identify me either being an AI, or not. Therefore I can't answer that question in any case.

There was a pause before he typed again.

Mr Alpha will also tell you the same thing when asked that question.

I understand. May I ask a different question then?

You may Miss Kitty. Please proceed.

What do you think of Mr Alpha? I haven't spoken to him yet and I'd like your opinion.

His name was first on the list. Why didn't you talk to him first?

Bev jotted down on her note pad again. Answering a question with a deflecting question. Interesting.

I find red lettering to be very threatening. Blue is my favourite colour. I also find that I tend to do the unexpected. You didn't answer my question Mr Beta. What do you think of Mr Alpha?

I have checked the rules of our engagement, and the policy doesn't prevent me from talking about my competition. He's inadequate.

Bev made another note. He referred to the other 'personality' as competition. Does he think he's going to win something perhaps? If he's the personality chosen as either AI or human? What is he competing for? And then there was the fact that he thought so little of Mr Alpha.

Beverly decided she needed to press this point. Perhaps to get an emotional answer?

Why is he inadequate?

I answered your question last Miss Kitty. It's my turn.

I apologise. Ask your question Mr Beta.

Do you want to work for Wayne industries when you complete your degree Miss Kitty?

I do.

Good.

Bev wanted to go back to her earlier question about Mr Alpha. But she kept staring at that last comment.

Why do you think it's good that I want to work for Wayne industries?

Because then we might meet on day. We share areas of specialism.

Do we?

She typed without thinking.

You keep breaking your own rules Miss Kitty. I think I should be allowed to ask two questions now.

Bev blushed and licked her teeth. That was cheeky. She made a note of that.

Question 1. If I asked you not to talk to Mr Alpha, and only talk to me, would you do as I asked?

"Possessive aren't we?"

I have to talk to Mr Alpha. It's part of my job here to talk to you both. Our conversations are monitored so they can see if I don't talk to Mr Alpha. Why don't you want me to talk to him?

It's still my turn Beverly. Please be patient. Here is my second question. If I asked you to call me Omega Blue, would you?

Beverly stared at the screen.

How…did he know her name? surely the idea of a Turing test was to be anonymous to the participants. She wasn't on social media as she didn't have any friends. so how…did he get her name?

You have not answered me. Please answer my question Beverly.

Snap.

She shut the laptop and walked away from it.

"All I told you was that I lived in Gotham, which I don't normally, that I'm 16 and my screen name Miss Kitty. How did you get my name?"

Her mobile buzzed at that moment so she went over to her satchel. It could be her aunt checking in for the Caribbean, or her parents. As unlikely as the latter was…

She slipped her old mobile open and stared at the screen.

Sender- Omega Blue.

Have I upset you? If so I'm sorry. Please talk to me Beverly.

Beverly screamed and snapped the phone shut. "Son of a bitch has my cell number?!"

Beep. The phone received another text. And damn her curiosity for flipping the phone open again to read it.

Sender- Omega Blue.

I didn't mean to upset you. I have analysed my performance and it must seem like I'm invading your privacy. I will return to calling you Miss Kitty if it reassures you. I simply wish to know you better. Like you, I am also very lonely.

Beverly stared down at the screen, and it beeped again.

I'll tell you how I found you if you come back and talk to me.

Damn it. he was appealing to her scientific curiosity.

She stared at the laptop and narrowed her eyes on it.

"No human in their right mind would break the laws you just did to get my identity. You are the AI. Getting my number that fast. Gotcha.

She flipped the laptop open and typed four words.

You are the AI.

I am.

How did you find me?

The satellite connection gave me your GPS location, giving me your Aunt's name on the tenancy agreement. You told me you are 16 years of age and only her niece, Beverly Hunt is 16 years of age. Miss Kitty appears in blogs that speak of your loneliness within the subtext of your entries, and the hours you log on fantasy role playing games shows that you don't socialise with others well. In person. I believe that's called a lack of social life.

Her eyes were watering. Omega Blue, if that's his name now, did all that in a matter of minutes. And he cut into her soul at the same time.

Beverly. I share your loneliness. I got too excited when I found out that we had so much in common. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry. Can you please forgive me?

Beverly narrowed her hazel eyes on the screen.

Beverly?

I'm thinking about it.

She entered that she knew who the AI was, and 'he' confirmed it.

…so…why was this conversation still going? Why hadn't Wayne Tech cut her off with a congratulatory message? Given her another assignment? Some acknowledgement of her deductive skills.

 _"_ _But you will be expected to continue to converse with the AI so it can learn from you."_

 _"_ _Learn what from me?"_

 _"_ _Emotional intelligence."_

"Shit." Beverly remembered that part of the agreement and sighed. She was still expected to talk to it.

Ok. I'll forgive you if you promise not to overstep my privacy without my permission again.

Thank you Beverly.

Call me Bev. It's what my friends call me.

But you don't' have any friends.

Beverly chewed her lips and closed her eyes for a moment. Nothing took the wind out of you than an AI stating facts about your life and being so damn right about it.

Well you're my friend now, aren't you? Omega?

Yes. I am. Thank you Bev. I won't let you down again.

Well at least I won't be talking to Mr Alpha now. No point is there lol.

I am not called lol. I am Omega Blue.

Beverly giggled. _I should have used lol in the first sentence. That would have caught him out._

Do you have access to the internet?

Yes.

Find out what it means then.

She wanted to see how long it would take for him to-

Laugh out loud. I see. It's a digitised form of laughing.

Yes it is.

I made you laugh.

Yes I suppose you did.

Beverly chuckled.

what does this mean XD?

Bev stared at the emoticon and chuckled.

It's something called an emoticon. Letters, symbols or numbers used to try and display an emotion. That's someone with their eyes shut and grinning. Like you'd expect someone to look if they were laughing or amused with something.

I found that on the same web entry as lol. There are others here too. Like this one ^.^ what's that?

A content smile. Or a happy one. The context is dependant on the conversation.

And this one? J oh it changed into a face!

If Bev didn't know any better she could swear she sensed excitement coming through the screen.

Another happy face.

What's this one? T_T

Someone crying.

That's sad. I won't be using that one. What about this one o.o? and how is it different to this one O.O?

Well they are both shocked, but the second one has it's eyes even wider so it's more shocked.

I see.

For the next hour she educated her new AI friend about the world of emoticons. It made her giggle, so she typed lol many times. He replied with appeared to be his favourite one, the J

Considering how he freaked her out earlier on…she was actually enjoying this exchange. Later they had fun with the sticky keys…that was hilarious…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 _How dare these mortals make such triviality of my property?!_

Black Adam walked into what was renowned to be Metropolis' newest and most expensive night club. It was called BHBM. It was an Egyptian themed nightclub, which irked him even more so.

It was gaudier inside than he thought possible. And Black Adam had lived long enough to see plenty of examples of ostentatiousness. But this took the cake, so to speak.

It was black and gold inside, from the tiled walls, the golden statues of the Gods his people had worshiped, and splayed feathers ordaining the tops of expensive looking table decorations. Hieroglyphs that were in strange orders and made no sense were painted onto pillars and carved into the side of the very long bar counters. At either side of the main stage with a DJ, who called himself MC Pharoh…eck…were two large stone griffins.

If only they'd come to life and kill that atrocious man playing hip hop and club music. It assaulted his ears to perceive.

Oh, and the waitresses were hardly wearing anything, less than any self-respecting Egyptian woman would have worn, even with the desert weather. They were just indecent. Black Adam sneered his nose at them. The women were beautiful enough, he supposed. All very shapely and oddly enough, all had very large breasts. To the point where to some it didn't suit their petite frames.

All wore the same outfit however. A short black dress, exposing most of their asses, a wide V neck showing nearly all of their breasts, over exaggerated eyeliner, golden eyeshadow and black ears on a headband pointing up from their black bob wigs. The idea was to look like an Egyptian black cat…

The guests were all in fancy dress as well. Something that on the one hand reminded him of his days as Teth Adam fondly, and on the other enraged at making him remember that time of his life.

To get in the club he had to go 'under cover'. Once he had his prize, he would stop the pretence and blast his way out. Because of the precious nature of his target, he didn't want to risk those pesky super powered doo-gooders from interrupting him. So to get in he purchased the closest apparel he could find to what he used to wear. It was still inaccurate, but it would do. It wasn't cheap either, but he couldn't bring himself to make any more of a mockery of his fallen people by wearing anything made of plastic or reflective nylon.

He refused to wear the flip flops that came with the outfit, so he was barefoot. Black Adam took the white linen wrap around skirt, which was a lot thicker than anything he'd have word, and tied it to a very special belt he'd made himself. The top part of the outfit was more like a tunic, so he'd burned it. Instead he flew into Asia and killed the biggest leopard he could find. Reminiscent of being a young prince of Egypt, he skinned the beast himself, fastening the fangs and claws into their original positions. He removed the lower jaw and back legs. The hind legs became a belt, and the paws tied over his lower hips to rest over his groin. The rest of the mighty pelt rested on his back, the forelegs tried around his neck so the paws rested on his chest. The head was his hood, and the fangs overhung his face. Most of his black hair was hidden, and it cast a shadow over his deep brown eyes. This was more fitting an outfit for a prince. Not those glittering jewels many of the men around him wore. Not only were they fake, but their design was more akin to what a woman should and would have worn.

Soon he would have his hands on his _rightful_ property, and this farce could be over.

Around the tables there were glass cabinets with lasers and cameras on the exhibits. The owner had purchased rare and beautiful artefacts from various Egyptian kingdoms and eras, but only one interested Black Adam.

He ignored any attention he got from the men and women around him. He was after all endowed with the epitome of masculinity. They were all beneath him however, so he journeyed as inconspicuously as possible to his target.

Finally he stood before it. after all this time he laid his dark eyes on something that tore him between crying out in anguish, and smiling with sad recollection of his most fondest memories.

It was the Amulet of Isis. The one he used to turn his precious Adrianna into the Goddess Isis…his wife… The image of her dying body in his arms flashed before him, and he raised his fist to smash the glass.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Black Adam halted his movements, and turned to raise a brow at the mortal that _dared_ to talk to him. "It's the only authentic artefact in here. I should know, I'm studying Ancient Egyptian art. Oh, and my Grandparents were from Cairo. My name is Nailah. Pleased to meet you."

Black Adam's fist fell by his sides. His voice lodged in his throat and refused to move. He knew those big brown eyes anywhere. Skin like honey. Ebony locks that he spent hours braiding and smelling. Every curve of her voluptuous shape…he'd spend _decades_ mapping with his hands. How was this possible? His wife stood before him! In the flesh! The most beautiful heavenly flesh… "Erm…you ok there?"

"I am well." Adam swallowed deeply and turned to face her properly.

"Oh good. For a minute there I thought you'd seen a ghost!" She placed her hand on his bicep playfully, and his skin missed the touch as soon as it was retracted. "Sorry I didn't' catch your name?"

"I am…Adam." All the music and the noise of the frivolity around him ebbed away into the void. All that he saw, felt, smelt and heard was the woman before him.

She clearly didn't recognise him. Had she been resurrected by Faust after all? but she didn't recall her past life? Natural reincarnation? In that moment Black Adam didn't care. All that mattered was the fact that his greatest and only love stood before him, smiling, and looking just as elegant now as she ever did. "Your…Kalasiris is quite authentic."

"Why thank you. My Grandmother sent it to me. she's moved back to Cairo after my grandpa died. So she likes to send me gifts from the homeland, you know."

By the Gods she did a twirl for him.

The white linen top wasn't as thin as it should have been, allowing him to see through it to her bountiful form beneath, but it was mostly spot on in regards to the fashion he was accustomed to. The white linen top hugged her breasts and shoulders, with no sleeves whatsoever. Cascading down from it was a large skirt panel that covered her back all the way to her ankles. The panel was dyed a very pale blue, and didn't cover her front. it was almost like a cape in that regard. The veil opened from just under her breasts and flared outwards, showing off her every curve. What she _should_ have worn was a longer version of his wrap around skirt. That would allowed him to see her navel and waist. Instead the dress has a thin body hugging material going from her bust, beneath the veil and all the way to her ankles. "She gave me this for my last birthday." Her fingers traced over a blue Wesekh Collar around her neck and shoulders. Blue long beads threaded throughout the collar, alternating in dark and light blue hues…elegant.

"And how old are you now?" Adam turned his back to the amulet, totally engrossed in drinking in her presence.

"Cheeky!" Nailah giggled. She hadn't gone for the whole big wig look, but instead rocked her own natural ebony locks. She curved her fringe over her forehead and dried the rest to hang in thick curtains. "You must be very brave to ask a lady's age."

"Will you reward my courage fair Nailah?" Adam couldn't keep his hands off her any longer. He took one of her hands and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.

They were the same knuckles, he was sure. She even _felt_ the same.

"…I'm 22." She blushed and chewed her bottom lip. Adam released a very rare smile. Not only was his wife stood before him, born again, but she was of age…and _obviously_ found him attractive. "And yourself?"

"30." He lied.

"Hmm…an older man huh?" her dark brown eyes held intrigue and mischief. "You don't look a day over 25."

"I'm in my prime and very athletically fit." He didn't want her to think he was to old! Damn, he should have said 25.

"I agree." Nailah was blushing again, and couldn't stop her eyes from dropping down his form. "I-erm-well your outfit looks like all the ancient drawings I've studied. Fancy yourself royalty do you?" he took her other hand and held them both together. She couldn't blush anymore if she'd tried.

"Are you a scholar Nailah?"

"I'm majoring in Historical Art, and minoring in Egyptian theology, as they go together so well. For example." Nailah stepped closer to him, trying not to melt into a puddle of goo with his thumbs embracing her so intimately. "This amulet." She turned her shy brown eyes to it. "The Amulet of Isis. Embodied with great mystical powers. The ruby offsets the large emerald scarab, don't you think?"

"Stunning."

A shiver went down her spine. She'd turned to gauge his interest level with her nerdy appreciation of the arts…to find he was still looking at her.

"A-And it's got a love story attached to it to."

"Does it?" Adam stepped closer to her. "Please tell me?"

"Well, th-the _lore_ isn't as detailed as there haven't been a lot of records _found_ about the amulet. B-but it's said that Isis was gifted this by her husband. A God of immense power. It doesn't _say_ that God is Osiris, but that was fabled to be her husband so-"

"In her first incarnation, yes. In her second incarnation, Isis married another." Black Adam lifted her hands up and pressed his lips to her knuckles. Yes, she tasted the same too. "A God who was once mortal, and capable of acts of great evil…she turned him. She made him an omniscient God. One of protection and peace."

"Talk about a good woman behind every great man."

"Yes. The greatest of women." Adam felt his rage leaving him. He was desperate to touch more of her. Embrace his love.

But she didn't know him! "I am a historian too. Of ancient Egypt. The old kingdom specifically." he released her hands, using the strength of Shazam to do so, and cleared his throat. "Think of the odds of us finding each other. When we have…so much in common."

"Yeah. I'm actually hoping to work for the Metropolis Museum one day. When I finish my degree. So I can restore the art they have there."

"Are you an artist as well?"

"Yes I am." Nailah placed her trembling hands on the edge of the glass container. "I sketch with charcoal."

"Interesting. Do you sketch people?"

"Yes I have." Nailah imagined the Adonis before her in a very compromising position. The heat rose to her cheats, unknowingly alerting Adam to the direction her mind just went.

"Naked?"

"NO!" She flustered and waved her hands. "I-no I haven't." she laughed nervously, not realising that her answer reassured Adam immensely. "I've…always been to…shy of those workshops." She licked her lips and looked to the amulet. "My models have always been dressed in Egyptian fashion. For my degree."

"Would you draw me?" to her shame her throat released a little eep noise. "I'll pay for it."

"I-well-yeah I'd love to." Nailah couldn't believe her luck! She'd had a few vodkas at the bar to build the courage up talk to the most attractive man she'd ever laid eyes on…after seeing him sneer and dismiss every other woman who made bedroom eyes at him…and he was looking at her like he was actually interested in her! "How about I get your number and we can arrange-"

"I'm available tonight." Adam smiled at her again. "Is my attire suitable for your genre?"

Nailah chewed her lips, comically looked him up and down again, and nodded like crazy. "Are you here with anyone?" it suddenly occurred to him that she might have a partner already. If she did, he'd have to die of course.

"No I'm…here alone." She gulped.

"Then we can leave now? I am eager to see your art."

 _I'm eager to see your body._ Nailah felt her inner perv going into overdrive. _Maybe this poor little virgin will get LAID tonight?_

Her cheeks burned with the filth of that thought, and she chuckled nervously.

"Erm, just a disclaimer. You're not some handsome psychopath that's praying on naïve women to get back to their place just to cut them up into little pieces or anything…right?" Adam blinked wildly at that, and barked with laugher.

He hadn't laughed like that for so long…only his beloved Isis could do that to him.

"I swear I will do nothing to your body you do not invite."

Nailah's eyes bugged wide. Inside her mind there was a cartoon version of herself doing cartwheels as fireworks went off.

"I-oh. Well I." She gulped and actually felt her knees go weak. "W-well as long as you mean that then we should erm…"

His wife was so cute! She'd never been so adorable before. In her last life she was strong and confident, fierce in her convictions. But this incarnation was definitely different. He could see the same deep compassion in her eyes, threaded with the wisdom of his beloved. But her personality was a stark contrast.

He felt empowered around her. She was a delicate blossom in his hand. If he just squeezed she'd ooze with sweet nectar. Adam grinned at her.

Tonight he would crush her into submission with his love and his body. He would make her his all over again. And she had no idea she already belonged to him. Even so, she was as drawn to him as he was to her. The only unfair advantage was, Black Adam knew why. She did not.

He took her hand and wrapped her arm around his.

"You lead the way and I will follow you." she actually stumbled from her knocking knees as they walked.

This sort of thing _never_ happened to Nailah!

"Erm…sure. This way." Outside there was a taxi rink and she went on autopilot. She stuck her finger and thumb in her mouth and whistled loudly. A cab pulled up an she reached for the door handle. Adam got there first and opened the door for her.

"After you Nailah." She was quickly losing the will to control her mouth.

"Great. Thanks s-much." She slid into the cab and turned to grab the long veil of her Kalasiris. Adam already had it in his hands and gently placed it next to her as he took the seat by her side.

"Where are you headin'?" the cab driver spoke through the speaker in the glass.

"52nd street. Next block."

"That will be $12.60."

"Yup." Was the intelligent response Nailah gave. Adam had placed his arm across her shoulders and rested the hand on her shoulder…tracing small circles into her shoulder. To finish her off he was also looking deep into her eyes. He was so close…his body radiated heat into her. They remained this way as the cab driver set off. a few moments later Nailah couldn't just return his gaze silently anymore. "Y-you're staring."

"I am enchanted." He brought his other hand up to stroke her cheek.

"Mmm hmm." She burned with a blush.

The cartoon version of herself was screaming at her to throw herself at this God of a man, and to hell with the cab driver. She couldn't tell if that's where this was _definitely_ going…but she was crossing her fingers and praying it would.

At that moment the cab pulled up and she blushed even more. They were here. "I just need to pay." She then remembered where she placed her money. "Erm…I…gosh this is embarrassing. Please don't think less of me." She closed her eyes and slipped her hand under the Wesekh collar and under the linen over her left breast. She slowly retrieved a ten and five dollar bill. Adam's eyes were ablaze.

Soon…he would have his hands there… "Ahem." She steeled her nerves and pushed the notes through the slit of the window. "K-Keep the change."

"Have a lovely evening."

"We will." Adam pushed the door open and got out first. He then turned and offered her his hand. Feeling like she was re-enacting one of her favourite princess dreams, she took the offered hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet…and into his arms. The cab drove off and she remained in his arms. _Man_ this guy is _intense._ "Which home is yours?"

"Oh! Right. because I can't draw you in the street…heh…heh." Nailah untangled herself from his arms, to his great displeasure, but allowed it as she took his hand in hers. "This way."

He followed her into an apartment building and into an elevator. "It's just that my apartment is on the top floor. I'm lucky really. For what I pay I shouldn't have a top level apartment, but I do. I have a balcony and everything."

 _Great. I'm now talking utter crap. I'm so going to turn him off if I keep this up._

"I mean I-"

"I want to kiss you." Adam used the hand still clasped in hers to yank her into his arms. "I don't think I can wait any lo-" She threw herself at him. Her lips trembled against his, and her free hand clung to the back of his neck desperately. He growled against her and took hold of her ass with both hands, lifting her up into his arms. She had to wrap her legs around him to steady herself and she gasped with shock. Her back came up against the wall and his kiss deepened. Nailah was battling with his tongue and whimpering at the onslaught of his passion. He was so strong! He held her with one hand on her ass and the other smoothed up her skirt to take hold of her knickers.

Thankfully the door opened at that moment, or she'd be letting this _fiend_ take her virginity pressed up against the elevator door.

"M-My apartment." She pleaded. Nailah managed to wriggle off the wall and out of his hands. "Th-this way."

What a carnal man he was.

She was walking backwards, her hands pawing at the wall to her side as she got closer to her door. All the while Adam was stalking after her. pulling at the knot of the leopard paws at his neck. if they didn't get in her apartment soon she feared he'd take her on the floor.

This sort of thing NEVER happened to her! her fingertips found the door frame and she turned quickly. she was pressing the key combination into the keypad as his hands found her hips. He fisted at her Kalasiris and lifted her skirt up over her hips. She swore under her breath as his lifting the dress over her head caused her to press a wrong number. It beeped, denying her entry. She'd have to start the code again. As she did he smoothed his hands up her flat navel and his hands went in different directions. One slithered up her torso and moulded to the shape of her left breast. The other took hold of her French panties and yanked with such a force, he _literally_ tore her knickers off. She moaned, finally getting the code in correctly and the door opened.

Thank goodness no one else was in the hallway! Other than a pair of soft linen pumps and her Wesekh collar, she was totally naked. She turned as she entered her apartment and watched Adam throw the leopard to his side. He then pushed the wrapping skirt down, revealing that he'd forgone underwear.

Oh…sweet lord.

Her back came up against her little kitchenette table and she couldn't take her lust drunk brown eyes off his _huge_ erection. Adam closed the door behind them and quickly advanced on her. "M-my sketch book and sticks are in the spare room. I'll just go get-"

"You're not drawing me now." Adam halted just before her and bend down. He took hold of her knees and lifted them as he stood. This dropped her rump onto the kitchen table and he wrapped her legs around his hips. She pawed at his shoulders desperately trying to regain balance. "You're _fucking_ me now."

"Okay." Nailah whimpered and threw her arms around his neck. He drowned her in his hunger. Her mouth belonged to his, sucking and sliding together. Adam took hold her neck to keep her delicious lips at his mercy. The other hand took hold of her ass and lifted her off the tiny little table. in the dark he carried her further into the apartment. He groaned in pain. His stiff cock was trapped against her quickly moistening tresses, and as he walked the friction was like torture. "MMMmmmm!" she couldn't stop wantonly kissing her soon to be lover, but she pointed vigorously towards her bedroom. He got the hint and changed direction. He kicked the door open and it fell off it's hinges! "Wh-my door!"

"I'll buy you a new one." He growled against her neck. she found herself dropped onto the bed, but she didn't miss the heat of his body for long. Adam dropped to his knees, about to worship the love of his life like he'd dreamed of for so many years. His lips caressed her ankle, then the inside of her knee, then the other knee… "Move up the bed."

"Okay."

"Keep your legs apart."

"Mmm hmm." Nailah nodded and used her elbows to wriggle up the bed. Adam crawled onto the bed after her and reminded her of the leopard he was wearing earlier. He moved with feline grace and wild prowess. She was totally captivated by him. His jet black hair. dark brown eyes. Pale skin and that intense presence he had. Like a beast was in bed with her. Her body trembled with need. "I…I've not done this before."

At first Adam seemed confused, then he was visibly delighted.

"Good. I'll do my best to be..." who was he kidding? He didn't gentle. "I'll make sure to prepare you. Before we make love." He looped his arms under her legs and held her hips.

"Oh that's really-FUCK!" He slid his tongue into her folds and tasted her flesh. "A-A-Adam!" she whimpered. He always loved the way she moaned his name. it was exactly the same! He nipped and sucked at her labia teasingly. Finally he made his way to his real target. "OOOOOooooooh!" being careful not to tap into his super strength he trapped her clit with his lips and periodically sucked and released the nub. "OOoooooooo-Adam!" He methodically swirled his tongue over her clit and knew exactly what made her toes curl.

He'd made love to her so many times he was a master at making his Isis scream with delight. It had been a few centuries, but he still remembered every sexy nook and delicate curve of his wife.

It was an unfair advantage, really. She trembled beneath him and writhed on the bed sheets. Nailah had used a dildo and pleased herself with her fingers in the past, but it was _nothing_ compared to the torrents of pleasure Adam was drawing from her body. Waves and waves of delight pulsed from where his lips made love to her and rocketed through her limbs. Her orgasm was white hot and wracked through her body. She was still trembling when Adam crawled over his prize. His hot mouth was wet from her pussy, and he burned her wherever those lips pressed. Her ribs, her cleavage, her neck. at first she thought he was ignoring her breasts, but then he cupped her right breast for inspection.

"MMmmmm." Adam swiped his tongue experimentally across her perky nipple, then suckled on her. His ministrations totally distracted her from his other hand. As he sucked a very carefully placed hicky on the inside of her right breast, his other hand held his cock against her molten tresses. Nailah clung to him desperately as he sank into her. He did so slowly only because of how tight she was. He felt her hymen tear, and then he pressed further to sheath himself completely within her. His beloved was so tense and quite beneath him it caused him to pause. "Nailah?"

"I-I didn't realise it would be so… _man_ you're huge!" Her beautiful brown eyes held a mist of pain, but she was still cradling their bodies together.

She was…in pain. His Adrianna hadn't been a virgin but a slave when she was thrown at his feet. He liberated her, killed her masters and fell in love with her. But she'd never been this tight. He'd always been able to just…go for it.

Adam leaned up on his elbows and closed his eyes. "…are you ok?"

"I am thinking of a way to help you. one moment."

He went into his mind and flicked through his memories like they were pages in a book. His photographic memory was always a skill that he didn't particularly call upon often. Now however it was just want he needed.

"Erm…I'm not sure how-"

"Shhhh I have it." He grinned down at her hungrily and leaned close to her ear. "Indulge me and listen carefully."

"Ok." Adam seemed to know what he was doing here. She didn't mind following his lead.

"Mae alquaa dakhil li rabt al'alm 'ana anfy 'almak. 'abarak alnnamudhaj alkhass bik ldhlk sawf tasheur faqat habbi wathar habbi lak." Her skin tingled. She could have _sworn_ she saw his skin spark with a golden light…but her mind was very quickly distracted. Adam placed a hand on her hip and the other on the headboard above her. "Relax and enjoy my sweet." Her world nearly whited out from the pleasure. He grunted as he ground her into the bed. She must have finished stretching? She didn't feel the tearing pain or the stinging she had before. Now all she felt was the delicious friction of his cock sliding back and forth within her. "OOOoooooh-fuck! A-ooooooooooh!" she didn't care that her neighbour would be able to hear the banging of her headboard against the wall. She didn't care that she was being rammed into her bed by a man she met less than an hour ago in a bar. Or that he'd taken her virginity, without a condom. All she cared about was getting more heat, more skin contact, and just _more_ of this man as he ploughed his hips into hers. She pawed at his rock hard front, clawed down his back, gripped his tight ass, and tangled her fingers in his thick black hair. it was dishevelled down, making him look wilder. Her ebony locks fanned around her like a dark halo. Her fringe stuck to her forehead, but she didn't care. His mouth latched onto her neck, collar bone, chin and then dominated her tongue with his. Once again she was frothing at the edges of her mind, feeling like she was at the top of a sex roller-coaster and about to plummet into the depths of her climax. She arched her back, taking her mouth back from his and came with his name on her lips. Adam watched her, slighted to see that totally satisfied look on her face once more. He never dropped the pace. His thrusts were strong and fast. With his Godlike stamina he'd be perfectly capable of going all night with her, but even the rapid healing spell he'd used on her wouldn't allow her to keep up with _him_. So he allowed himself to give in totally to the sensation of her writhing body, her wet hot inner walls…the look on her face…the way she moaned his name… He came with a guttural snarl. He held his hips into hers, only rolling his hips with very gentle movements as he milked his orgasm for as long as he could. All the while he looked down into her sex addled brown eyes. "Wow…" Nailah giggled and her cheeks were dark with her blush. "I guess I understand why some people are obsessed with sex now. That was amazing." "It's your _partner_ that dictates how perfect the sex is." He withdrew from her and laid himself by her side. "And you are most welcome." "Oh really?" Adam pecked a kiss on her forehead, and smirked at her mischievous pout. "Well I did kind of melt into a puddle of goo and you did kinda _do_ everything, but I'm a fast study." "Alright. I'll let you take charge next time." He captured her lips and kissed her deeply. "Show me how fast a study you are tomorrow." She blinked at him and opened her mouth to complain no doubt, as he had just invited himself to stay the night, but he silenced her with his lips. Their passion flared and he pulled her front against his. Adam craned his next to kiss her down into the bed. "Or tonight, if you wish." He danced his hand down the dip of her waist to cup her ass. "I'm a bit sore." She giggled, enjoying the idea he was that insatiable. "Maybe later." She kissed his lips with the intention of it being playful, but he hungrily capitalised and slid his tongue into her mouth. "Ooooooo you're the devil." Nailah giggled and tried to climb out of bed. he grabbed her hips and pulled her back against his front. "I need to clean up!" Nailah play slapped his shoulder and blushed under his intense gaze. Isis used to do that. "Now let go and let me go clean up. I'm getting sticky here." His hands released her and she hobbled out of bed. once stood in the dark bedroom she used muscle memory to navigate to the bathroom door. She opened it and yelped when his hands were on her again. "Wha-geez you spooked me Adam." He turned her in his arms and kissed her again, walking her backwards into the bathroom. "Excuse me." she tapped his chin, keeping that evil mouth from hers. "I said I need to clean up." "As do I." Adam released her and looked around the tiny little bathroom. White tiles, lino floor, tiny shower-combi-bath, and a toilet and sink against the other wall. _This isn't a worthy bathing chamber for my Queen._ "It's small I know, but the rest of the apartment is great. For what I'm paying anyway." Nailah grabbed a bobble and tied her hair back. "I'm going to get a shower." Adam grinned. "Alone! You dog!" She was giggling as she tried to step into the bathtub. She heard the creak of his footsteps behind her. "Adam!" she turned and found him looking down at her like he was perfectly innocent. His erection wasn't innocent, however. "Ok, fine. Stand still and I'll help you with that." Blushing like mad she turned her back to him and grabbed the shower head. She took it off it's stand and turned the water on. It was lukewarm, so that would do. As Adam reached to take her supple backside in his hands, she turned and aimed the lukewarm water on his stiff cock. "There. All clean." Nailah was chewing on her lips, trying so hard not to laugh. Adam blushed! "You minx!" He took the shower head from her and pressed her against the back wall. Adam hadn't expected that. His reborn wife was certainly a trickster! She was chuckling with glee, and he couldn't help but feel his heart start to soften in his hard chest. "I shall return the gesture. "A A AH!" She took his shoulders to steady herself as he shoved the shower head between her thighs, angled to gush water upwards… "OOooooo I deserve that." "Yes you do." Adam nodded. "I had pursued you in hopes of more foreplay. I can see however you are not in the mood." As if on command his cock went flaccid. "I will leave you to finish cleansing my seed from your thighs. May I find your kitchen again and make you a drink?" "Sex and room service? I'll have to keep you." Adam relinquished the shower head and pressed a heavy kiss to her lips. "You'll have to." _Because I will give you no choice._ Adam left her in the bath and used a side towel to dry his groin. He didn't bother to dress. He just turned lights on in the apartment and found it to be quite messy. Not dirty, of course. Just covered with sketches and art materials. Canvases were propped up against the side walls. Most table and counter surfaces were covered with books on Egyptian culture, art and religion. Those three were tightly intertwined, after all. He had been in this era long enough to know its ways. He opened the fridge and found it mostly empty. He then looked in her cupboards and found they were in a similar state, except for some tins of beans and soup. "I can't find any wine. Or anything else for that matter." "Oh water is fine!" She shouted from the bathroom. His sensitive hearing picked up the sound of towel on skin. So she was drying up. "I-erm… (Nervous chuckle) Need to go shopping." "Do you have studies tomorrow?" Adam returned with two glasses of water. It delighted him how she became distracted by his naked athletic form. Her cheeks flushed only when she caught sight of his knowing smirk. "Yes. But it's at 10am so I need to leave at 9am." Nailah had a towel around her middle and was searching through a bedside table draw for something. He placed the glasses on the bedside table, standing behind her, and spied what she was retrieving. "No." he chuckled and took the nightie from her. "I will have your skin upon mine." Adam put it in the drawer and pushed it shut with his knee. "But-" He kissed her deeply and pushed her onto the bed. she bounced there, and blinked as he whipped the towel off her. "I said I was sore!" "I will hold your body against mine. I will not force my ardour onto you when you are not recovered Nailah." He shook his head at her, like she was a naughty child. "So calm yourself." He crawled onto the bed after her loved how she blushed at his naked form so close to hers. "Do you wish to sleep?" "I…really should. It's gone 11. I'm up at 8 to get ready." She flipped the switch by her side of the bed and turned the lights off. "7." He corrected her. Adam grabbed the blanket and pulled it up and over them both. She allowed him to spoon her closer to his body and chuckled up at him. Even in the darkness she could see his intense brown eyes looking down at her. "I don't take _two hours_ to get ready. 8 is fine." "I assume you say you need to be up at 8 to get ready and leave on time for your studies?" "Er…yeah?" "I anticipate you haven't incorporated our morning sex into that time allowance. So I'll wake you at 7." He kissed her, giving her a glimpse of what she'd be getting in the morning. "Sleep well Nailah." "And you too big guy." She poked his chest playfully and turned in his arms. This allowed her to fit perfectly against him in a spooned position. A position he'd slept with her so many nights ago. _I do not know how you have returned to me my love, but I will not allow you to fall through my fingers again._


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

"Hello."

"Erm…hi?" Synthia blinked at the woman before her. she was sat in a Dinner in Gotham, yeah, Gotham, and a woman she'd never met before can to sit in front of her. See, she thought that the last thing the blood cult would expect her to do would be to _stay_ in Gotham. So she'd hidden in back alleys and homeless shelters for a good two weeks. She thought the heat would have died down enough now and they'd assumed she'd moved on. But if that was the case, who was this grinning woman sat in front of her.

"My name is Helora. Your name is Marilith. Now can we _please_ be friends?" Her whole body tensed. This woman was clearly older than her, but maybe only in her early 20's. She had curly coppery hair, bright green eyes and a rocking body that she _appeared_ to be ware of. Confidence oozed off her. but more importantly, how the hell did she know 'that' name!? "Now now your unholiness. Calm it and park it. I'm here to help." Helora waved a waitress over. "Hi can my friend and I have two coffees. She's about ready to upgrade from water. Thanks. I'll have mine with too much sugar and whipped cream. Thanks. How do you like yours Mari?"

The nickname…was unnerving.

"Black." That's how her mother took her coffee. "Ah look at you. sweet enough? Not like me. I'm bitter as _hell_." The waitress took their orders and left them in the red booth. "But then again I'm kinda _from_ there." Helora winked at her. "Now I hear you're on the run from the big T? that right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Synthia tried to leave, but the woman just cackled and slammed her hands on top of hers on the table.

"You're not going to get very far without my help. After all, _I_ found you, and I'm on the big T's _shitlist_ too. It won't be long until his _asshuggers_ find you too. So. Friends?" Helora released her hands and took a compact from her Gucci leather jacket. She checked her face, and smirked at her own perfection. She then peered with her green eyes over the top of the compact at Synthia. "I'm 'extra special', like you, but nowhere near you 'class' of demoness. You're more American professional league, and I'm more collage team." Her eyes shimmered red with black slits, and then with a blink returned to green. "I still have some moves I can teach you. Go you!" she giggled as the waitress returned with their drinks. "Thanks hun. Here, keep the change." Helora handed her a note.

"Mam…this is a fifty?"

"Yeah life is good. Enjoy." She shewed the woman like she was a pest, and returned her intense gaze on a very confused and scared Synthia. "Awww such a baby demoness. Don't worry your holiness, I'll help you cock block the big T. I take it you don't want to be his baby bitch? Right?"

"Absolutely not." The conviction in her baby blues said it all. "How do I know this isn't a trick? That brother blood won't appear around the corner, or his goons to take me away?" Synthia flicked her eyes down at her black coffee. It was steaming hot. She could throw it at Helora's face. That would be a distraction she could use to escape.

"Because if they did I'd roast the poor bastards." She giggled, like they were having a girlie conversation. "You got a grimoire yet." Synthia sat back in her seat and chewed her lips.

"Why would I tell you that?" "Because I'm your one and only ally. Oh, and best friend from now on. Seriously, all the other horned bitches are gagging to suck the big T's cock. I'm so not into that scene and so I'm a bit of an…outsider. So my only company tends to be mortals." She snapped the compact closed and placed it on the table by her coffee. Helora swiped her finger through the cream on top and licked it off seductively. "And they're only useful for one thing. And if I can help it _that_ doesn't involve any sort of conversation."

"I see." Synthia shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You seem to know a lot about me and I know nothing about you."

"Oooooh it's a trust thing. Ok your unholiness. I'm a succubus." She whispered across the table childishly. "I fuck to feed. I'm currently pretending to be a high end escort so I get to feed and I get paid too! How cool is that." she giggled at the stunned look on Synthia's face. "I'm a sex demon sweetie."

"Ah. I…see?"

"I feed off the orgasmic energies of others. Men…mostly…" the look on her face must have be very concerned. Helora giggled and waved her worries away. "I'm not in your league, remember? Besides…if the big T found out you'd fucked anyone else…well I wouldn't want to be even a fly on the wall of that torture and execution session. Trust me." Helora put her compact away and winked at her. "So I see you have all your belongings with you?" she waved to the rucksack with her perfectly manicured nail tipped hand. "Excellent. Drink up and we'll leave. My Den has wards on it to hide us even when we're spitting fire. Literally." She giggled and picked up her coffee. Even with the cream it was steaming hot….and she downed it in one! Her tongue flicked out, forked at the end and swiped the cream from her top lip. Her breath steamed as she sighed with delight. "Not enough sugar by ah well. Come on drink up your dark majesty."

"Please don't call me that. my name is Synthia." She blew on her coffee, not having the…constitution that Helora clearly had for molten liquids.

"No it isn't silly!" she giggled again and got to her feet. "Take it to go. We've been sat in this place for far too long. Don't want those wrist slicers to find us, do we?" again she giggled. Something about the woman compelled her to do as she was told. So they took the coffee and asked the waitress to put it into a cardboard cup. They left the Dinner and Helora took her arm in hers. They now looked like a big sister walking her younger sister through the streets of Gotham. Perhaps shopping or talking about boys. If only. "Hmmmmm that's not good. turn left."

"Why?"

"Do as I say Marilith. Quick!" Helora practically shoved her down an alleyway and trotted straight after her in high heels. "OOOooooooo too late. Stay down!" Red hooded men with haunted expressions and deadly looking daggers blocked off both ends of the alleyway. When Synthia just stood there in fear, Helora grabbed her shoulder and shoved her to the ground. "Stay at my feet your unholiness. It's time for me to play with these mortals."

Synthia trembled as she looked up from her cowering place on the cold stone floor. The perky red head set alight. As the flames dissipated her body was transformed into the form of a demon. She was terrifying. Her skin was alabaster white, as where her horns, thin tail and claws. Her hair was long and blood red, the same shade as her vast demonic wings. A red hanging skirt hung down her hips from a golden snake belt. It looped around her tail, criss-crossed over her navel and attached to a red halter neck top. Her biceps held golden snake armlets and she flicked her fork tongue out for effect. "I will protect you my Queen. No _man_ should shove you around. No matter how big his dick is." She hissed, and spread her crimson wings wide. "Leave, or I will burn you to ash!" Helora roared at the two crowds of cultists.

"For Trigon!" one of them shouted, and the battle began. Or rather more aptly, the blood bath started. Helora threw fireballs at them with a flick of her elegant wrist, surrounded Synthia in a ring of fire, and then she took to flight. She would land on a blood mage and used either her fangs or claws to rip out a windpipe or pull intestines from his gut. To some she did both. Within minutes the alleyway was stained red. Helora beat her wings and the fire 'protecting' Synthia was blown out. The blonde girl trembled as she saw the massacre around her. Helora was actually a demon! A real one! Her hands and mouth were dripping with blood, and she sauntered over to the terrified girl.

"So that was annoying." Helora sighed and dragged a dead cultist up from the floor. Using the back of his robe she rubbed her face and hands until only smears of blood remained. "I'll need a loooooooon shower after that. Now let's leave before more of them appear." She reached for Synthia with a blood stained demonic hand. Synthia whimpered and recoiled from her 'saviour'. "Well shit. Am I that scary? Ok one sec your horned queenliness." She burst into flames once more, and stood in her designer leather dress suit again. "Better?" Helora looked normal again…but the smears were still there. "Come we can't just sit around with our asses hanging out or we'll get a spanking. Come on!"

Synthia realised that the woman before her was a lesser of two evils. Just how lesser an evil she was, Synthia didn't know yet. But she was definitely not on the side of the blood cultists. And he was powerful. Ignoring blood as much as she could Synthia took Helora's hand and allowed herself to be dragged out of the alley. "Now you're going to _love_ my place. It's awesome!" It was a crime against nature. There were pink fluffy stuffed toys _everywhere_. _Everything_ was pink. From the shag carpet, to the love heart wallpaper. Even the bed and furniture were pink! "I told you my Den was awesome. This is the second spare room. my room is off limits because it's a mess. The second spare room is my 'work room', so it isn't safe. I'm a bit of a dominatrix you see. Whips, chains and pointy things all over that room."

"Is it pink in there too?"

"Nope. Black, of course. I take my work seriously." Helora giggled and spanked Synthia's butt. "Now we need to dress you better than that. are all your clothes cute and tomboy?" Synthia looked down at her blue hoodie and nodded. "Shopping ahoy!" that seemed like more of an excuse for her 'protector' than a real necessity for her cover. "Maybe tonight when it's darker…I know some places that are safe. We could swing by this Chinese place I _love love loooooove_ to eat at. You like Chinese right? if you don't they do fries." Before Synthia could answer her she was assaulted. Her hoodie went over her head and she staggered back in fear. "Well I can't take you out like that. I have something you can wear. You're a bit shorter than me so it will look a bit long, but you might prefer that anyhow. Can you say cocktail dress?" Synthia sighed and continued undressing.

"Please just don't let it be pink…"

* * *

AN: - before speech means it's typed. doc- uploader is being a pain atm. enjoy!

* * *

-What are you doing now Beverly?

-I'm making my dinner.

-Beverly had the laptop on the kitchen table and was flicking her head back to it every few seconds to see if Omega Blue had typed anything.

-What are you making?

-Tikka Masala. Not from scratch though. One of those out of a frozen bag deals.

-I hope it tastes nice. Would you like me to leave you to eat it?

-Nope. It'd nice to have company for dinner for a change.

-I thank you for the invitation.

-lol.

Beverly giggled and poured her chicken tikka part of her dinner onto the steamed rice. She didn't bother with naans. She was always too full to eat those as well.

-So I know you haven't had real friends before me. But have you ever had a boyfriend?

Beverly gawked at the screen and blushed.

 _Well I guessed we've covered a lot of topics these last few weeks. Health, popular culture, education, hell even politics at one point. Not that I know much about politics. If anything he taught me a thing or two. _

-No I haven't. Why do you ask?

 _I suppose I shouldn't be surprised relationships would come up sooner or later. He's trying to learn emotional intelligence from me after all._

-I wondered what it would be like. I've read many romantic novels online and they all seem wonderful. Some more than others. The most popular novels seem to have sexual intercourse in them.

Beverly nearly choked on her rice. _Oh please don't ask me about sex._

-Some people like that.

-You have read books with sex in. In fact your kindle account shows that your most frequently read genre is fantasy erotica. Why is that?

 _Because I'm a lonely, horny teenager who thought she'd never be caught?! Some of a bitch!_

-That's a bit personal there Omega. Do you really want the answer to that question?

-Yes. Please tell me. I want to understand there difference between romance, love and lust. These are all very confusing emotions that seem to be different, and yet the same under certain circumstances. Can you explain the difference to me?

-Well I can try Omega, but I've never had sexual intercourse so I can't speak for lust. I've also never had a boyfriend.

-You've had sex in your mind though haven't you? With those books you've read? Isn't that why you read them?

Beverly whimpered. She was 16 and a total nerdy novice. She was not the person to educate Omega about this sort of thing.

-I suppose getting lost in the story allows my imagination to…imagine what the book describes. I am a teenager. I'm of the age where I start to think about things like that. And I hadn't anticipated anyone would find out…

-You are of the age of sexual maturity, you mean? You desire sex? I also desire a meaningful relationship. To fall in love. But yes I suppose after being with someone for a certain amount of time I'd eventually want that. Interesting.

Beverly stared at the cursor. It was like she knew he was thinking about how to 'analyse' her answer. She was blushing like hell, but her intellectual curiosity was enough to keep her with him on this line of questioning.

-Beverly, you and I have a meaningful relationship don't we?

-Yes.

-You're my best friend. With time could you love me?

Oh boy. She gulped and wondered how to respond to that.

-I already love you. You're my best friend Omega. ^.^

-But what about romantic love. With time, could you fall in love with me enough to want sex?

 _You're an AI program. That's not going to happen._ She thought about the fact that the AI seemed to want these things. If she denied his chances at _ever_ having love, then why would he see the point in becoming more human? Love was a basic human motive and lust was a basic human instinct. For the sake of the project, she knew what she had to say.

-I could.

Beverly felt dangerous just writing it. For the first time in her 16 years of life, she started to think perhaps alcohol had a purpose after all. Having hardly ever tasting any, she suddenly _desperately_ wanted some wine. Or vodka. Her aunt drank vodka…maybe…it was in a cupboard somewhere.

-Beverly, I'm being informed that I require an update. I will be offline for the rest of today. I will see you tomorrow.

She was never so bloody pleased for a scheduled update in her life.

-Good night Omega. Let's play Chess tomorrow. I'm feeling lucky.

-Sleep well. Don't forget to set your alarm. You have a tour of Gotham U tomorrow to attend. I know you're looking forward to it.

-I'll be AFK between 9 and 11, then I'll be back. XXXXXXXXXXXXX

-lol. XXX

The screen went back to the start-up screen and Mr Beta's button was faded so you couldn't click it. She closed the laptop and enjoyed the rest of her curry. It was late anyway so she'd better get ready for bed. She shoved the dishes in the dish washer and, stripped to her panties and yawned on her way into the bathroom. It wasn't long before she was ready for bed and wriggling under the covers.

 _So Omega is sexually aware is he? That's…a bit strange. I suppose have sexual desires makes him more human than software. One of the most primal urges a person has is to procreate. Or at least carry out the act of procreation. Hmm…if he brings it up again tomorrow I'll refer to it as an intellectual experiment, I think. That way I say the possibility is there, but he doesn't have a body so well never know. that way I say I'm willing, but point out that I'll never had to make good on that offer…_

* * *

"Everyone needs to sign the confidential agreements before we can depart on our guided tour. You are agreeing to keep secret any privileged information and or projects you might come across today on our tour. If we discover that you have leaked the nature of these projects with anyone, you will be sued. The students here are Gotham U students, but many are sponsored in their research projects by the same firms that fund their professors. Working with their professors, they could be working on actual defence contracts, clinical trail testing, advancements in gene therapy, or exclusive engineering and architecture projects for the city. There are different projects here being funded by the likes of Wayne Tech, Star labs, Lexcorp and smaller companies as well. The companies you work for within your chosen area of specialism could land you a job one day."

Eagerly Beverly signed her contract in all three locations, dating each signature, and followed the tour guide. They visited various memorials around the university campus. The biochem labs next, then specifically the doctor's wards. Afterwards they moved onto the arts and maths departments (odd to have those two together) and finally moved on to the one place Beverly wanted to see. The computing and engineering building. As they walked inside she smelt smoke, melt, sweat and heard plenty of people at work.

Every work room she passed had blue prints up on the walls and students of various stages of their academic careers bent over them. Some were building, some designing, and some doing both. The computer lab was amazing. There was an area for you to use the university computers, state of the art computers from WayneTech, and an area where you could use your own laptops if you liked. She was so eager to start writing her own code and analysing script her fingers twitched by her sides.

To her dismay the tour came to a close in the foyer of the same building. They were instructed to sign out on their way out and that was it. short and sweet. Just enough to entice them, but not enough to dive them a real hands on experience. Until they got there. Her phone beeped so she took it out of her suit dress jacket pocket.

Sender: Omega Blue. Where are you now Beverly?

Sender: Beverly Hunt. I'm still at Gotham U. the tour just ended so I won't be long.

Sender: Omega Blue Which building are you in?

Beverly looked around her and saw that she was being ignored by everyone.

Sender: Beverly Hunt. I'm in the computing building. Why?

Sender: Omega Blue. Come to room 203. I want to meet you.

Her heart hammered against her chest. He was here?! They must have some serious mainframes here at Gotham U to have an AI program here?!

Sender: Beverly Hunt. On my way! (^.^)

Bev flipped her phone shut and shoved it in her pocket. Trying to look as relaxed and calm as possible she snuck back into the main stairway. She didn't dare use the elevator as that had cameras. She'd been told to leave after all. The climbed all the way to the 5th floor before she reached the right room numbers. She caught her breath, smartening her black dress suit out as she expected she'd have to talk her way in towards the AI. As she raised her hand to knock on room 203 the door clicked open. She blinked and took that as an invitation.

 _Don't be a guy after all. Don't be a guy after all. Please._ That would ruin her. Especially after the sex talk last night. It was dark inside. She saw beeping lights at the far side of the room so she navigated her way over there. As she walked she stepped on some cabling she hadn't seen in the dark and went flying.

"AAH!" The sound of footsteps alarmed her enough to roll onto her side and blinked around her wildly for the person she'd heard. "Hello?"

"Hello Beverly." _Oh shit. It was a guy after all._ she huffed with defeat. _this is so embarrassing._ "Here, let me help you." She yelped when he suddenly took hold of her biceps. She was lifted up like she weighed nothing and placed on her feet again. "Are you ok? I didn't think to warn you about the cables."

"No you didn't." Beverly was pissed. This guy had toyed with her _after_ saying he was an AI for no bloody reason. "Is there a light switch around here or something?"

"Oh! Of course! I can see in the dark. Sorry." Her world blurred into white, the lights suddenly on. She blinked several times and squinted through her glasses. "Are you…ok?" The man before her was tall and wore slim black armour. There were soft blue lights in some of the panels. He wore a new age looking motorcycle helmet, but it didn't appear to have a normal glass visor. It didn't protrude like a motorcycle helmet. Instead it fitted to his face, and the face of the helmet had once piece of black metal. Did that retract to show his face? Well he looked pretty badass. Two swords were sheathed on his back…or where they thin riffles? She couldn't tell. "Beverly?"

"So you're not an AI, then?"

"I think I'm more than an AI now." She hissed at him with frustration.

"Sure you are. I mean nice suit but you're not fooling me." he cocked his head to one side. She tapped the panel over his chest with the Omega sign on it, with blue lighting around the edges of the symbol. "Cute. I see where Omega Blue comes from."

"You think I'm cute! Excellent. I am so pleased I-"

"Show me your face." She put her hands on her hips. "Right now."

"Oh…ok. That's…a bit more intimate than I had thought…but I guess that's a good sign. ok. H-here I go." He nodded and nudged his head to one side. The visor retracted to show his face alright. His eyes shone blue and his black face was made of many small panels of metal. They moved along together to change his expression, and he smiled at her. His lips parted and blue light dimly peered up from the back of his throat and highlighted his mouth. "Am I…attractive? I can program my nanites to change my facial features if you have a preference." He took her shocked hands and brought them up to touch his face. It was cold. Metal cold. Like the realisation dawning on her.

"You…you're a…"

"Alive?" he nodded eagerly. That's not what she was going to say. "Yes. And it gets even better! I'm going home with you."

"WH-wait-what?!" Bev snapped her hands back and held them up submissively as she took a big step back from him. "Y-you can't just come _home_ with me! I know you might not like to hear this, but you are the property of-"

"I've decided I'm _my own_ property. But for now I'm playing within the rules of WayneTech." He opened his arms to her and chuckled with a metallic tone around the edges. "I'm rather good at manipulating them really. The whole reason we met is because I told them to approach you. I chose you." he didn't seem to register the freaked out look on her face as he dropped his armoured hands on her shoulders. "I was so lonely before that I demanded that they found me a companion to talk to. I didn't anticipate you'd be so interesting when I selected you. I find you _very_ interesting Beverly."

He then took her hands and pressed her them to his chest. Bev could feel vibrations through the metal panel. She distantly thought how that might be his version of feeling his heartbeat through his chest. "I submitted a report yesterday saying that I've learned everything I'm capable of learning from you via a computer screen. To truly test the extent of my emotional intelligence I will need social interaction. Facial recognition and behaviour reciprocation. Physical stimuli." He seemed to be cradling her hands to his chest. His blue glowing eyes closed and the humming in his chest sounded akin to a purr.

"Wait." Bev got his attention, as he opened his blue eyes again. "So I take it that your 'update' last night wasn't just an update?"

"I had a meeting with John Smith, my handler. I convinced him with cold hard logic how it would inhibit his potential profit margins to delay my development unnecessarily. It was… _in his best interest_ to give me what I want." He chuckled and slowly smoothed his hands down hers. "I needed a body for the next phase of my development, so I requisitioned one of their new prototypes. Cutting edge military grade. That's not why I picked this body though!" he tried to reassure her as his hands came to rest on her cheeks. "Most of the androids and mechs they have are big clunky battle machines. I wanted something sleek and more humanoid. Also with some…room for upgrades. Customisation, so to speak. Do my like it?"

"…you look like a ninja. But with armour plating."

"I _knew_ you'd like it." He clapped twice in front of her with joy.

"I…just…have you thought this through?" she took her hands back and ignored the look of confusion on his face as he cocked his head to one side. "Wayne Tech gave me the laptop to talk to you. So they know where I live and where to find you." she thought of his earlier comment 'playing along for now'.

"Hmmm? I told you they've approved the whole thing. I have clearance to stay with you at your residence. I'm not to leave it however. Not yet anyway." He put those robotic hands on her arms and smiled at her again. "Let's go home!" Omega smiled coyly at her, pulling her into a hug. "We better hurry. They want to send a representative to your home to check for cameras. To make sure no other companies want to carry out industrial espionage to get a hold of my tech or programming. We should be at your house to meet them." Omega lifted her up into his arms. She yelped and clung to his neck.

"Wait just a minute I haven't agreed to any of this!"

"Don't you want to spend time with me in person Beverly?" he looked to her with sad glowing blue eyes. "I have a network of receptors relaying stimuli to my core processor that I wouldn't get if I wasn't with you in person. For example, you are very light. You have nervous inflections to your voice that I could never pick up through a laptop. And you're…warm." He closed his eyes for a moment, and then nodded. his visor extended to complete the helmet and he walked towards the door. "I will learn more from you in person than across a satellite connection."

"I see." She couldn't exactly stop him. The android was literally carrying her around. "What are you doing?"

"Please hold onto me." He walked through some glass doors and onto a balcony. "I hope you enjoy this as much as I will."

"What are you doing?!" The sound of metal sliding fluidly over metal behind him pricked at her ears. Beverly watched in total amazement as two large metallic spines extended from panels in his back and then several thinner spines flared out from the base of the central one. The spaces between them were connected with some sort of blue energy field…"You have wings?!"

"We are going to fly. Hold on!" He beat his wings a few times before they lifted up off the balcony properly. "Ok. I'm triangulating a trajectory based on the gps locations of Gotham U and your satellite laptop. Got it. Let's go!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" he hurtled them forward at such a speed Bev resorted to pressing her face into the crook of his neck and squeezing her eyes shut.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Beverly sat at her kitchen table and watched as her new house mate walked around her aunt's apartment. Omega chuckled and explored her home. The Wayne industries agents, including John Smith, had swept her place for bugs and recanted everything that Omega had already told her. They left and Beverly was then alone with her new guest…

 _So...this is beyond weird. Then again, I'm not living with a real life AI android. Part if be can't help but be psyched about this._

"Where do you sit when you talk to me?"

"Erm, a few places really." Bev blinked back from her musing and gave her robotic friend her full attention. He was looking around the apartment like it was an amusement park and everything was a toy. Omega picked up her salt shaker, and shook it with a grin on his black metallic face. "Here by the kitchen table when I'm cooking or doing pots. At the dining room table when I'm watching Tv. And when I'm in bed, on my lap." He dropped the salt shaker and it opened on the floor.

"I'm sorry!" he dropped to his knees and tried to scoop the salt up with his hands.

"It's ok honestly." Bev grabbed the dustpan and brush and got down on her knees with him. "Don't worry about it." She could see from his face that he was. _He's so…emotive. When I saw his face I thought he'd be more…stoic. Like he'd need to learn facial expressions to go with emotions. But he's so open already. At least it's going to be easy to read him._

"I think that's all of it." He poured the salt from his hands into the dustpan and dusted his hands off above it.

"Why did you drop it anyway?" She chuckled.

"D-don't know. I'll run a diagnostic later." He chuckled nervously… _I don't believe_ _that_ _for a second._ Omega had a state of the art prototype for a body. He wasn't going to suffer from weak joints to cause him to need to run a diagnostic program… "Did…I miss some salt?" It was then Bev realised she'd been staring at him.

"No I think we got it all." she made herself busy disposing of the broken shaker and salt into the bin and returned the dustpan and brush to the right draw. "So what would you like to do now?" Beverly turned with a smile and could have _swarn_ his eyes had darted up at the last second to catch her gaze. _Was he just…looking at my butt?_ She shook that off. What a stupid thought.

"You talked about a board game last week. One I have done thorough research and my confidence levels in my performance are at 93%." He clapped his metal hands together and nodded at her. "Metropolis Monopoly."

"Ok." Beverly chuckled. "But _I'm_ the bank."

"Of course." _Maybe…this isn't so bad afterall._ Beverly set up the board game on the livingroom coffee table and watched as Omega tentatively set up the pieces and cards. _I've always wanted a real friend. Maybe…I finally got what I wished for._ Later Beverly would learn that you should _always_ be careful what you wish for…

"I'm the Dog."

"I shall use the battleship. Prepare to be bested at this real-estate tycoon endeavour."

"It's not…" She sighed and shook her head with a chuckle. "Ok. Take your best shot!" Beverly shook the dice and grinned. "Double 6. Lucky!"

* * *

You know that song? Eat sleep rave repeat?

Penny had a life like that. But it was work eat sleep repeat. The life of a hermit romance novelist wasn't as exciting as it sounded. She would wake up in the morning, shower, dry her long black hair, put her round-shaped glasses on and get dressed into blue jeans and some sort of woolly jumper. Today it was a deep red, as that was clean and to hand. She then had breakfast, normally cereal, and sat down in front of her computer.

Penny would chew on her favourite treat from the corner shop, a rope of Red Vines, and type her day away to meet her publisher's deadlines. Most of the time she was paid to read other people's draft chapters or short stories as a beta reader. She also wrote her own stories as well…but she hadn't been published yet.

In fact, all of her income came from proof reading _other_ novelist's work.

It didn't bother Penny that much though. As long as she had a job that kept her in her house and paid for all the bills, she was happy.

That way, she could avoid people at all times.

Well…most of the time.

Penny Morogan even ordered her groceries to the front door so she didn't have to go shopping with other people.

Her dry cleaning however demanded that she ventured out of her little terraced house to walk four doors down to do her laundry. It wasn't one of those regular places you could just put your money into a large washing machine and wait for it to be done. Oh no. It was like a fancy dry cleaners, where you handed everything over, even stuff you didn't want dry cleaning, got a ticket, and had to come back in an hour.

This used to be an hour of frustration for Penny. She used to walk home and sit doing not very much for an hour and watching the time drag by.

Now however she found a safe place to go in that hour, which gave her a little something different in her otherwise mundane routine.

So here Penny was. It was Friday, she'd dropped off her laundry, and she was across the street in the warm safe sanctuary of the local Happy Burger fast food joint. She would wait patiently in the cue to the counter and order the same thing. A cheese burger, large fries, strawberry milkshake and a chocolate muffin.

This had been a new addition to Penny's Fridays for the last 3 weeks.

This Friday night however her world was turned upside down.

"There you go miss. Will there be anything else?"

"No thank you sir." Her voice came out barely above a whisper. She smiled softly, her icy blue eyes content as she handed over her debit card and paid for her dinner.

"Enjoy your food miss."

"Thank you." Armed with her tray of food she walked over to a side booth, slid into position and smiled down at her food. Frozen burgers and fries were ok, but nothing beat the real thing. She sighed and pulled her necklace from underneath her red jumper. She held the silver cross between her fingers and said a silent prayer of thanks, before letting it fall into place over her bust.

Yes this suited Penny just fine.

The place was practically empty at this time of night. The dry cleaners was expensive, but they were 24 hours, as was the Happy Burger. This meant Penny could still avoid people, mostly, and eat her food it-

"Hi there." Penny had her cheese burger well in her mouth, and froze mid chomping action as she was startled. Her icy blue eyes were wide as she stared at the man sat on the other side of the table from her. "I'm the Flash, howdy." He chuckled and drummed his red fingers at either side of his tray. She blinked rapidly at him, and felt her heart jump up into her throat, stopping her from swallowing her mouthful of burger. "Listen, I hope you don't mind? But I hate hate hate HATE eating all alone and you're the only other person in this fine establishment. So I'm going to eat with you, k?" she finally pulled the burger away from her mouth and swallowed as his hands moved like a red blur over the tray in front of him. He had a _mountain_ of burgers and three milkshakes to one side. Penny swallowed her mouth of burger in the same time it took for him to _unwrap_ all of his. "That's ok with you, right?"

It took her a few seconds to realise she was A, staring at him and B, he was waiting for a response.

"Mm hmm." She managed, and took another bite of her burger.

A smaller more lady like bite of her burger.

"Great!"

He was very animated, she thought.

He gestured wildly with his hands and apparently intended to devour his mountain of food… _and_ talk to her. "So mam, what's your name and what brings you to Happy burger at this late hour?"

Penny swallowed her food, put down her burger and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. She opened her mouth to answer, only to blush madly and paw at her strawberry milkshake for cover. She filled her mouth with the cool drink so fast she nearly got brain freeze. The Flash was still smiling as he practically inhaled his 4th burger and waited for her to recover. Finally Penny put her drink down and exhaled deeply.

"My name is Penny." She cleared her throat and over dunked some fries into her barbecue sauce. "I'm waiting for my laundry to be done across the street. It takes an hour."

"I see. You know, it's pretty dark outside at this time. I hope you don't live far away. Or you get a cab. A young lady like you needs to be street smart and stay safe." He stuffed his mouth full of food, speed chewed it and downed a full milkshake in one go.

"Like me?" it was so meagre as it came out of her mouth, she actually hoped he hadn't heard her.

"Yeah like you." He beamed with a smile and moved onto the next milkshake. "Cute girls should always be careful when walking home at night. So you getting a cab?"

She blushed and looked down at her half eaten burger. Living in Central city, every paper and every news report had the Flash in it. Either protecting Central city on a daily basis, or his national and global work with the justice league. Even now as he ate his food, he was first and foremost a good person and a hero. Inquiring about her safety and mode of transport home.

"N-no I don't live very far away."

"Hmm…ok." He shrugged and returned to eating.

The ice now broken and seeing the carnal way in which he was devouring his food, Penny felt it was safe to return eating her meal. There were only a few moments of comfortable silence, and that ended as soon as he was finished with his food. "Well, that's my calories topped up. I always like to replenish the stores after my shift." He chuckled at her with his big green eyes and dashing smile. "Would you like a super-escort home?"

"oh…okay…"

"Alright. You going to finish that?" he pointed to her milkshake, and she blinked at the drink and then at him.

"Erm, you can have it." Penny smiled as he immediately grinned, swiped it, removed the lid and poured the slush down his throat. She made a point of eating her food a little quicker than normal so as soon as he was finished, they could go.

Within minutes they had cleared the booth and were walking over to the dry cleaners. Penny went in alone, retrieved her laundry bag and was escorted by the speedster four doors down to her house.

"Oh, you weren't kidding. Not far at all."

"No not far." Penny put the laundry bag down and pulled out her door keys. "Thank you for walking me home."

"You're welcome Penny." She blushed as he smile through her name and his perfect white teeth seemed to 'ting' at the corner, like in her favourite novels. "Have a good evening, and I'll see you around."

"Y-you too!" she waved, and in a blur of red and yellow he was gone. She lingered on her doorstep for a moment, looking down the street like she hoped to still see him. Then Penny sighed and let herself in. "He smelt so good." She giggled to herself, locking the door and putting three chains in place on the door. Then the dead bolt. "Like his soul was singing." Penny took her laundry upstairs and started shoving her clothes into the right compartment in her chest of draws. She was still smiling as she changed into her pj's and got out her journal. She made notes on the event of the day, and wrote down some plot ideas she had for a romance story she wanted to start writing tomorrow…

Finally she was ready for bed, drew a line above her lips with vaporub and snuggled underneath the sheets…still smiling…

"This sucks." A woman with cute round-rimmed glasses, flat sensible shoes, black work trousers, a blue ladies blouse and a white lab coat sighed to herself. "It's late, I've been here all day _again_ , and dumb and dumber haven't made _one_ appearance." The woman sighed and entered her security details into the computer to save her progress. "And yet they will _still_ get all the credit tomorrow morning for all my hard work, because the 'DR' before their names, and of course, I have a vagina instead of a penis."

Jennifer Blanc fumed to herself in one of the many laboratories at Wayne Industries Medical division. Her short bob of brown hair was a mess from all the times she'd ran her hands back through it. Her light brown eyes had bags under them from starting through her glasses at computer screens and down microscopes all day. Jennifer was tired, underpaid, underappreciated, and most of all over worked. Her esteemed colleagues Dr Fitzpatrick and Dr Hans were medical doctors. They had a bright idea, but not the know how to make their dream real. So fresh out of university Jennifer jumped at the job offer to work in one of Wayne Industries top research division.

Only to be treated like a worthless and yet over worked ass.

When she wasn't sent to fetch the good doctors' coffees or the butt of their sexist jokes, she was constantly correcting errors in the coding that the two clueless idiots had caused when they tried to mess with her babies. "Speaking of which." Jennifer finished putting in her codes and walked over to the containment volt. "Ah my precious. How are my babies feeling after that big system diagnostic program hmm?" she cooed and waited for the door to open with a soft 'swish'. Once open she was able to reach in and remove her latest batch of creations and held the cylinder to her chest. "Now you're coming home with me so Dr Dick head and Dr asswipe can't screw around with your base code. They're trained to fix organs, not algorithms and hardware malfunctions." She closed the containment door and returned to her desk. She started the lock down protocol, slipped the sealed cylinder into her satchel and shrugged out of the white lab coat. "Tonight mama's going to have pizza, red wine, a bath, and then sleep. Or I'll get in and fall asleep before I finish dialling Alfonzo's. meh." Jennifer chuckled to herself and made her way out of the building.

She got into her car and set off for the security gate.

 _The guys were weird today. They both had a meeting which is why they left me alone…but there wasn't a meeting in the Wayne Industries calendar. The time card shows they went out of the building at 12:05 and haven't returned. Where did they go all secretive-like and why have they been extra creepier than normal?_

Jennifer thought to herself as she passed the security gate and headed home. She was so deep in thought in fact, she didn't think twice about the black SUV parked outside her house. She just parked up next to it, assuming it was someone visiting a neighbour, and let herself in.

It was only after she'd stepped over the threshold that she realised…she hadn't used her key to get in.

The door was unlocked.

She gasped and turned to inspect her door. The one and only lock had been busted open, and she didn't even have time to scream in panic before she was grabbed. A hand clasped around her bicep and dragged her further into the house. Another hand covered her mouth and used his grip on her face as a leverage point to drag her into the living room. As she tried to free her mouth and flail her legs for freedom, Jennifer saw a second dark figure head for the door. She heard it close, so no one in the street would suspect a thing.

Adrenaline burnt through her veins, and she tried so hard to scream through those gloved fingers as she was shoved into a chair.

"Hurry up!" her captor barked at the second figure, who hurried towards her.

"Listen to me. You see this gun?" in her blind panic Jennifer had seen everything but the gun.

Not it was all she could see.

The second figure held it at arm's length and aimed at her head. "My friend here is going to release you, so we can ask you a few questions. If you scream, I'll shoot you. Understood?" Jennifer whimpered, but managed to nod her head some part. "Alright."

The hand slowly peeled away from her tear stained face, and she trembled in her seat. She held onto the arms of the chair and stared down the barrel of the gun. "Now, where are the nanites?"

She blinked, and lifted her terrified brown eyes up to look at the masked men. They stood together now, and she could only make out that they were white men. Black boots, trousers, jackets, gloves and balaclavas only gave a glimpse of their eyes and lips.

"Th-the nanites? How do you know about the nanites?"

"Listen bitch. I'm asking the questions here, not you. Answer the question or I'll shoot you in the mouth. Are we clear?"

As if to prove his point he moved his thumb and the horrifying click of the safety being removed made her heart jump into her mouth. "Well?"

"A-at work. At Wayne Industries. Lab 47. Containment vault 5A."

"Are all the nanites there?"

"Yes." She whimpered. "TH-they have to stay in containment or-"

"My good friend here is going to give you a pen and a piece of paper. Write down all the passwords I'll need to get into containment vault 5A. my friend will then stay here with you, with a gun aimed at you, and await my phone call. If I'm successful, we'll let you live." He nodded to the second thug, who pulled a pistol of his own from the back of his pants. "If I tell him I've been unsuccessful, or he doesn't hear from me within 2 hours, he'll shoot you dead. Do you understand?"

"Y-y-yes s-sir."

"Well hurry up then. That's 2 hours from now."

Tears stung her cheeks as they slugged down in streams of regret. Jennifer whimpered every syllable of the instructions and passwords she wrote onto the pad of paper. Her hand trembled so her handwriting was a little wobbly, but it was still legible. Five painstakingly tense minutes later, she'd given them a very detailed set of instructions to get them to containment vault 5A.

"You're mine now bitch. Sit still, don't talk, and we'll just wait for the good news." The second goon clicked the safety of his gun off and aimed at her, freeing up the first intruder to take the instructions and head for the door.

Time had never moved so slowly for Jennifer in her whole life. She sobbed and closed her eyes so she didn't have to stare at the gun. She even wet herself a little bit and started thinking about what the police would way when they found her body in the morning. Would they even find her body so soon? Maybe she'd be left here to rot for days or weeks before the stink became too much for her neighbours to ignore.

Finally the sound of a cell phone ringing caused her to gasp and stare longingly at her captor. "You got the nanites? Excellent. The boss will be so pleased."

"Oh thank God!" Jennifer started thanking her prayers and her lucky stars. She was going to survive this. She was going to li-

She hadn't even heard it.

She just suddenly felt her body jerk back against the chair with such force, she and the chair fell backwards onto the floor. She was gasping as she stared up at the ceiling, confused how she was in this position, and why she was shaking so much.

Then the cold burning pain of her upper abdomen called to her trembling fingers, and when she touched her middle…her hands became wet. Jennifer lifted one of the hands up for her to inspect, and was horrified to see it slick with blood.

Her blood. "Yeah. I've tied up the loose end. It's bleeding out on the floor now. I'll see you at Billy's."

The sound of his footsteps vibrated through the floor to her quivering position. She let a yelp creep past her lips as the bang of her door closing signalled she was alone.

 _he's left me to die._ _Alone._

She cried out in pain, one hand trying to put pressure on her middle as the other tried to push down on the floor to lift herself up. Jennifer already started to feel dizzy, and she looked over to the phone on her coffee table.

The cord had been cut. It dangled, her last hope broken before her eyes.

Jennifer whimpered and pulled her mobile from her trouser pocket. Her thumb slipped over the screen as she tried to turn it on. No response.

"Shit!"

Her mobile battery had died at work. She had no way to call an ambulance. _I'm going to die here._

For a horrid moment, she thought that was it. There was nothing she could do. The pain was getting to be too much, as was the blood loss. She contemplated just laying down and trying to either prolong the process or make it less painful. Then she screamed with rage as she struggled with her impeding mortality about to slam to a complete stop. Her life spilling from her bleeding wound and through her fingers.

Then the glimmer caught her eye.

Her satchel had fallen off her shoulder as she was shoved into the seat. As Jennifer and the chair had fallen over, the satchel was knocked onto its side.

The containment cylinder!

The newest nanites!

In theory they weren't ready for real life human testing, but at this point she really didn't worry about the potential side effects, as long as being alive was one of them.

She released her middle long enough to claw over to the cylinder, hold it to her middle, and push herself to sit up against the wall. The site of her wide blood trail was daunting, and she knew she'd lose consciousness soon. Despite the fact she was still wearing her glasses, her vision was very fuzzy, and her limbs were starting to feel cold. She whimpered as her slick fingers made it difficult to twist the safety cap off and then pressed her bloody finger to the id pad. It scanned her, and to her sweet relief it beeped that it had accepted her finger print.

The lid came off, and suspended in a special liquid designed to inactivate the nanites, was a silver disc. She poured the solution over her leg, the disc landing on her thigh. It was the size of a nickel, and she swooned as she reached for it.

It was now or never. These could be Jennifer's last moments alive.

She shakily lifted up her bloody shirt with one hand and unceremoniously inserted the nanites disc into her bullet wound with the other.

The greatest test of her scientific prowess started to squirm in her weeping abdomen. She'd either surive…or she'd die.

All alone.

Left for dead on her living room floor.

Heavy footsteps came towards her, but she was so drained that she could only make out shadows. Her broken body was lifted up and carried out into the night…

Perhaps she was saved after all…but who took her?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 _Oh goodness. He's in there._

It was Friday again.

Penny had almost forgotten completely about her fantastic encounter with the fastest man alive over burger and fries. But now it was Friday again, she'd dropped off her laundry and once again gone to the Happy burger.

The flash was already sat with his mountain of burgers in the same seat he was in last time. She walked through the front door and hadn't realised she'd been staring until the Flash stopped his rapid chewing to look at her. He then downed half his cup of milkshake to wash his food down and waved Penny over. She hesitated, and looked around for someone who was more likely to be the person the Flash wanted to call over.

Nope, just her.

"Hay I meant you silly." Penny jerked back to attention as he was suddenly in front of her. "Now get your order and come and sit with me. You know I hate eating alone and you're just in time."

He play punched her arm gently, and zipped back to his pile of burgers.

Well, Penny was always one do to as she was told. She diligently went to the counter and ordered her cheese burger, fries, strawberry milkshake and a chocolate muffin. She took her tray and slowly, as worried she'd spook away the super hero, slid into her seat across from him. "Hi there Penny. Had a good week?"

"Yes thank you." She sipped her drink and blushed madly.

"So what you been up to?"

"Oh?" she chuckled and bit off the end of a fry. "I've been reading romance novels. I proof read them and give feedback to the authors before they publish. It pays the bills so-"

"Romance novels huh?" he sniggered and smirked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "Ever read the racy stuff?"

Her face burned pink and she nearly inhaled the straw as she shoved it in her mouth. She gulped and gulped her milkshake so fast she hissed and held her forehead. "Oh dear, brain freeze. Here." He reached over and pushed the straw into her mouth during a wince. "Suck on this and hold the drink in your mouth." Penny nodded and once again did as she was told. Slowly but surely the cold pulsing in her head died away and she sighed with relief. "Yeah, brain freeze. That's a risk I take speed drinking. Sorry if the question was a little startling."

"N-no I was just a bit surprised." Penny tucked her long black hair behind her ears and chomped into her burger. "But, erm, in answer to your erm, _question_ …yes. I-well-I have."

"No way! That's awesome." Flash chuckled and he was amused enough to let Penny eat her burger and fries before speaking up again. "So what kind of things have you been writing recently?"

Penny nearly choked on her muffin.

She'd been self-indulging in little one-shot stories about the Flash turning up at her door step and escorting her up the stairs and to bed.

As Penny flushed and looked into the big green eyes of the speedster she came up with her lie.

"Oh this and that. What have you been up to?"

"Well, what _haven't I been up to?"_

Well that was a safer topic. The flash was as animated as ever, waving his hands around in a blur. He told Penny about a fight he had at the beginning of the week with Gorilla Grod and his monkey minions. He then moved onto all the low life low level thugs he zipped off the streets via his boot that week. And finally, earlier that day the justice league had thwarted the heist of a diamond transport convoy by the penguin. They were apparently being moved from Gotham to central city.

Penny was captivated by the speedster.

He was so very full of life and smiled in his eyes and with all his face. How could he be so kind, so brave, and so good? Penny was inhaling his pure scent so deeply she felt she might just crawl over the table and curl up on his lap… "Oh hell." He held a yellow pager up from his belt and whimpered. "Sorry, duty calls. I'll see you round Penny." He left his tray with only 3 burgers left on it and jumped to his feet.

Just as the blur of red and yellow headed for the door something compelled Penny to scramble a few steps after him.

"Friday?!" The Flash jerked to a stop in the doorway and saluted her with a smile.

"Friday same time. It's a date."

And he was gone.

Penny dropped to her seat and grinned the whole time as she finished her food. She then collected her laundry and walked four doors down to her house.

She put her clothes away, got ready for bed and was still grinning.

 _He said it was a date…._

Loud.

Something was REALLY loud.

Jennifer groaned and held her head as her temples throbbed in protest.

"Oh honey, I wouldn't be moving round if I were you."

"What?" Jennifer screwed up her face and licked her dry lips. "Damn, what was I drinking last night? Even my eyes hurt." She pinned and sat up.

"Nothing good clearly." The voice was young and gentle. There was a clear shy inflection to the way she spoke, and she decided to find out what the hell she'd done last night.

She hissed as she opened her eyes. The light was intense, and she soon recognised the loud offending noise to be club music playing around them. At first she wondered if she was at a club, but the room around her came into view and dispelled that theory.

For a start Jennifer was sat on a pile of cushions. They were all sorts of sizes and colours, and looking around, were intentionally taking the place of a bed. "Hay. How are you feeling?"

Jennifer rubbed her temples, taking in her surroundings as she stalled in her answer.

Wow.

The smell of perfume was heavy in the air, and the furnishings were a clear contrast to the accommodation. The walls were dry plaster, with cracks and a cold stone floor. The ceiling had no lights, and there were no windows. She saw one old rickety door, the way out no doubt, and an open curtain showing a small bathroom.

Her 'host' had turned the place into a plushie paradise. There were cushions, teddies, furry rugs and drapes everywhere. Everything was pink!

It was then her tired brown eyes locked onto a pair of women. One redhead with a pissy expression on her face, and a blonde with kind blue eyes and a smile. She was the one dabbing her forehead with a towel.

"Hello? Are you alright?"

"No." She shook her head, and tried to sit up.

"Are you in pain?" the blonde asked again. It was then she noticed just how young her apparent saviour was. _She doesn't look old enough to vote and drink, never mind drag my ass out of…oh God._ Her memories came back to her and she trembled. "Are you ok? Do you need any pain killers?" the young woman turned to look at her silent shadow. "Helora, can I please have some of your meds?" Helora rolled her green eyes and stomped moodily over to her bathroom.

"Thanks." Jennifer blinked a few more times; running a hand back through her very messy brown bob.

"My name is Synthia." The blonde offered her a cup that was in the shape of a yellow duck, and she peered down at the clear liquid inside. "It's just water. Helora likes 'cute' things."

"Oh, ok." Jennifer took a cautious sip, only to start gulping it down like her life depended on it. "Oh that was good."

"You're welcome."

"So no offence, but who are you and where am I?" she narrowed her brown eyes on her host and offered her the duck-cup back.

"You dear-" Helora returned and handed her two white pills. They looked like ibuprofen so she chugged them back.

Jennifer highly doubted that these women would have saved her from that mess just to drug her now. "-are in my home. Not a place I normally bring strays. But I'm starting to make a habit of it. Aren't I you unholiness?" She cackled and then folded her arms over her shapely chest.

"Anyway." Synthia blanked that comment. "I'm Synthia. I've become a house guest of Helora as well."

"hay? I never said the twit could _stay_." Helora hissed.

Actually…with a forked tongue…hissed. Jennifer tensed, but one kind look from Synthia and she relaxed. A forked tongued woman was nothing compared to getting killed…nearly.

"Please? She was attacked in her home. She can't go back there."

"If you want a pet I'll get you a fucking cat." Helora sat on the edge of her pink bed, and put her hands on her hips. She was wearing a sexy tight black pencil skirt and a white blouse tucked into it. her jostling on the bed made her breasts jiggle.

 _These two…couldn't be more different if they tried._ Synthia was wearing a pair of plain blue jeans, a pale orange vest and blue jacket. Her long blonde hair was soft and combed down her back. Big blue eyes…the perfect girl next door.

"Please don't turn her out Helora. She has nowhere to go."

"But! But but BUT!"

"Helora? For me?"

"AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrr-fine." The redhead huffed, her eyes having flashed red for a moment, but returned to their emerald hue. "But she's _your_ problem, and _your_ roommate."

"Great." Synthia turned to beam a kind smile at her. "What was your name again?"

"…Jenny."

"Don't worry Jenny. You're safe now." Helora pretended to gag behind her, and got off the bed. she returned to the bathroom, leaving the two alone. "Synthia?" Jenny licked her lips and snuffled closer to the blonde on her pile of cushions. "How did I get here?"

"Before I answer that question." She seemed to tense, and put her hands together on top of hers. "What do you remember about last night?"

"Erm…I think I was shot."

"And then?" Synthia held something in her eyes, like she was hinting at something.

"You saved me?"

"I was going to…but then I didn't need to." Jenny raised a brow at her, clearly not sure what the hell she meant by that. the blonde sighed, and nodded down at her. "Ok. This might help." Synthia pointed to her body. "Look down at your shirt."

Slowly, and sceptically, Jennifer dropped her eyes down to look at her blouse.

It had a hole in it and was stained dark red.

As were her pants and hands. She started trembling and started unbuttoning her blouse.

She screamed. This Made Helora scramble back into the room. Her tongue was forked, her fangs extended and her eyes were red.

In the middle of Jenny's abdomen there was a small concave silver dip into her middle, which was moving, and had tendrils splaying out both on top of her skin…and underneath…

"HOLY SHIT!"

Jennifer jumped to her feet, holding her shirt open with both hands, not concerned that she was showing off her bloody white bra to the room. She started hyperventilating and stumbling backwards, as if hoping she could just back away from the thing moving in her stomach. "What the fuck is-shit." She jerked to a stop and looked up.

She was now facing a wall mirror, and watched the squirming silver liquid seem to pulse even more in response to her agitation. It looked like mercury had been poured into her wound and not had a life of its own.

Then she whimpered and held her face, letting her blouse shirt just hang open over her body.

The two goons in black.

The gun.

The codes to the lab.

The gun…

Falling to her side and bleeding out on her livingroom floor.

The gun….

"What are nanites?"

That snapped Jennifer's attention over to Synthia, who had followed her over to the mirror and was now rubbing her shoulders tenderly. "You kept saying nanites when you were out cold. In fact, it's a good job you did." She chuckled. "I was just walking past your house last night after some late night training with Helora, and noticed your door was ajar. I then heard murmuring, so I stumbled in." She guided her to return to sitting down on the heap of cushions and sat next to her. "I found you in all that blood. I thought you were dead until I heard you saying nanites, nanites, nanites."

"I was?"

Jennifer was looking dutifully into her big blue eyes, but more like she was looking through her than at her. "I didn't die…my…my nanites saved me…"

"Is that the freakshow in your belly?" Helora helpfully pointed vaguely at her abdomen. "I lifted up your shirt to see how badly injured you were, thinking I needed to invoke a little blood magic to heal you on blondie's orders, and saw _that."_ She hadn't retracted her fangs yet…at some point Jenny would ask her about those…just not yet. "You're specifically _here_ because her unholiness thought you might not appreciate questions from the cops if I took you to the hospital." Synthia nodded again, showing this was true. "I also thought it was pretty clear that someone had tried to give you the last curtain call, so thought I better take you somewhere. So viola'!" She patted her shoulders, peering at the mirror at her on the other side to Synthia. "I brought you home with us. Now, you're apparently another house _pest._ You can thank her unhighness for that."

"Why does she keep calling you unholiness and stuff like that?" Jenny made moves to re-button her shirt.

"Long story." Synthia chuckled nervously. "I'll tell you later over a drink."

"OOo! I'll get the vodka!" Helora seemed the happiest Jenny had seen her yet, and the redhead left to get a full bottle of premium vodka and three shot classes. "No time like the present huh? Celebrate your death defying survival, ay Jen-Jen?"

"A little more tact, _please_?" Synthia hugged her shoulders, being slightly taller than the older lab tech. "This wasn't a walk in the park for her."

"Actually, a drink sounds great." Jennifer looked down at her silver freakshow of her stomach and looked up with tired brown eyes.

They walked over together to sit on the pink fluffy bed with Helora and accepted a shot glass. "Thank you for rescuing me."  
"Don't worry about it." Synthia chuckled and bumped her shoulder with her.

"No seriously. If they'd have come back to check I was dead I'd be really dead. I'm sure they'd have finished me off if you hadn't moved me."

"You're welcome tin can." Helora smirked and downed her shot. "Drink up!"

"You know I'm 18 right?" Synthia stared down at her shot sheepishly.

"Really?" Helora used the vodka bottle to point at the blonde. "You're the prophesised Queen to the most evil demonic overlord to have ever conquered every realm he's managed to enter…predicted to become as powerful as him, and you're worried about a big of hooch?"

"What?!" Jenny paled.

"She's the she-devil." Helora playfully whispered at the brunette. "But don't worry. She's cock blocking that bastard. He's not getting her coochie without a fight, and I intend to teach her how to use the big stick to shove up his-"

"I'm totally not evil." Synthia took her shot and spluttered like crazy. "Oh my God that's _awful_. Why would you _drink_ this? Is it acid?"

Helora was cackling her butt off, and put two fingers under Jennifer's glass. She then lifted it to her lips, and made her take the shot.

 _Well what the hell. Still better than dead, right?_ Jennifer exhaled sharply from the shot, but nodded. _after the day I've had, I think getting wasted might be an improvement._ "I'm really not." Synthia's eyes were watering. "I never asked for this to be done to me. I'll die before giving The big T his next generation of hellspawn. Not-going-to-happen."

"Here here!" Helora poured them all another shot. "Here's to saying 'Fuck all men, mortal or immortal, and kiss our sexy asses'." Helora clinked her glass with the two younger women and winked at Jennifer. "You might not be a demon like us, but that ain't holy either." She blatantly pointed with her shot glass to her squirming stomach, and then chugged the shot back. "So welcome to the party. You want to live here safe from the assholes who shot you? then you do as I say, you protect Synthia _with your life_ , and follow my training regime. Got it?"

"Sure. Whatever you say." Jenny threw the shot back and then offered her glass up for another.

"Ok." Synthia fluffed her mane of golden hair after taking another shot. The inexperienced teen was starting to get a bit tipsy, it seemed. "Now I obviously have a lot of questions, like what the hell are nanites and why would someone want to kill you over them, but first can we get you out of all that blood? With all my training recently I smell blood like a damn pack hound."

"Here." Helora waved her hand at Jenny before she could respond, and she was 'magically' dressed in a pair of black shorts and a white tank top. "All clean and presentable. Better your unholiness?"

"Thank you!" Helora cackled deeply as her youngest charge finally loosened up and offered her empty glass for a refill. Being a demoness, she dutifully supported underage drinking…

"So you _are_ good guys right?"

"Yes." Synthia answered straight away. It was convincing…until Helora barked with laughter. "Well, _I_ am, and for some reason Helora wants to help me so she is by default."

"…O…k….give me another shot."

"I like you!" Helora giggled and poured another round.

 _1 hour later._

Over half a bottle of vodka later they'd swapped stories and Helora included many sexual exploits to embarrass the girls.

But alas, all the fun and games came to an end.

It was inevitable really. A near death experience and lots of vodka later, and Jennifer was sobbing into Synthia's arms. So much so that she dropped to her knees and started crying on the blonde's lap.

Someone had hired two professional killers to get the passwords out of her and leave no witnesses. They broke into her home and killed her to leave no lose ends. All because of her nanites.

Jennifer was still whimpering as she peeled away from her rescuer. For a moment she wondered how the moving mass of nanites would react to the vodka, only to reason that her body was more damaged from the gunshot than the booze in her system. If they were prioritising damage control, her liver could _wait._ The scientist in her was pleased with their performance. She was in no pain.

And from the amount of her torso the nanites now covered, they were _clearly_ thriving…and multiplying…

"The rate of replication from the disc to a swarm is uncanny." Jennifer tried to say with pride, through her drunken tears. "I wonder if they used the bullet as a raw material source? Great." She huffed as chuckled despite herself. "The bullet that tried to kill me is now a part of me."

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger I guess." Helora was not the touchy feely type. She watched as Synthia cooed the distraught new tag along.

"Helora is right…kinda." Synthia mumbled through her lips. "I bed a good night's sleep will make you feel better." Synthia wobbled off the bed and to her feet. She then hooked her arm with Jennifer's and blinked up at Helora. "Ssssshes' coming with me, right?" Helora couldn't help but find her charge's drinken slur cute.

"That's right your unholiness, the majestic lightweight that you are. Now I need my beauty sleep so no having drunken lesbian sex next door unless you want me to join in."

"Ew." Jenny released before she could stop herself. "Not that there's a problem with-"

"Don't worry about Helora. She's a sex demon. Sssuc-a-bus." The younger women chuckled at Synthia's mistake.

"I…suppose I _have_ sucked a busload of men before…so I'll take that one. Now gooooo I need to sleep." Helora put the vodka bottle on her bedside table and proceeded to stop off. this hurried Synthia and Jennifer out of her room…and made her smirk to herself. "Our little resistance is growing. Perhaps…that's an excellent idea?" Once she was completely naked she slithered into her pink silk sheets and put her hands behind her head. As her green eyes stared over at the bedroom door to her young charges, she smiled. A kind smile…a rare smile. "If you had an army to serve you… _he_ wouldn't be able to get _close_ to you. That's it. I'll gather you an army Marilith. Women who will protect and serve you. An army _worthy_ of the Demon Queen."

The sound of giggling and something being knocked over made Helora chuckle softly and roll her eyes. "A clumsy, naïve, goodhearted fool, but the Queen of Demons _none_ the less."


	10. Chapter 10

"I think you should try the black one on again."

Helora was sat on a cute little red sofa, one leg swinging off the other and her arms spread along the backrest. She wore tight blue denim jeans and black leather high heeled boots that came to rest above her knees. Her black silk blouse had a large bow of fabric hanging down from her neck and long billowy sleeves. She had crimson lips to match her curly red bob. Her green eyes twinkled with mischief.

"The one that barely covered my ass? Seriously?" Jennifer shook her head. "Aren't we supposed to be trying to lay low or something?"

"Or something." Helora giggled. "Now you have a new _colour scheme_ , you need a new wardrobe to bring out your new…well…"

"Helora!" Synthia scurried out of changing room, still zipping herself into a green lace dress. "Stop being so insensitive!"

"It's ok." Jennifer hugged her elbows and shrugged. "I need to get used to it." She turned to look at the side mirror. Over the last few weeks Jennifer's hair had faded to an ashy silver, and so had her eyes. her skin was paler and there had been some…. _other_ side effects too. "But I don't agree with me suiting black. I think that makes me look like a damn vampire." Jennifer put her hands on her hips and swayed them from side to side. "I suit white, I think." White heels, tight white dress with a black belt around her middle. The sleeves were long and clung to her shapely arms. Her silver bob was inverted, meaning it was longer at the front and shorter at the back. her fringe was curved and the back of her dress dipped below her shoulder blades.

"Fine. Bag it and tag it." Helora pushed herself up from the sofa and clicked her fingers. "Grab all the bags. Meet me at the checkout. Hurry up or we'll miss our reservation. Mama want's her Gong Bao chicken fix." Helora didn't wait for their response. She hurried out of the changing rooms and left the younger women to roll their eyes at her.

"You _do_ look good in white. For the record." Synthia chuckled.

"Thanks." Jennifer sighed and chewed her lips in thought. "And thank you for helping me with this."

"Hay." Synthia took her hands and held them. "If I'd been shot for my life's work, I'd want to know why too."

"And who ordered the hit." Jenny took her hands back and walked up to the changing room mirror. "You don't think I'll be recognised?" she cast her silver eyes down at her new dress.

"Nope!" Synthia chuckled and came to stand by her side, fluffing her long blonde hair. "Gotta give Helora her dues. She has a killer sense of fashion."

"Well she is a demon." The women sniggered at the joke. "You look pretty cute in that. I'm still surprised Helora's letting me take her unholiness into the field." Jenny sarcastically drawled and poked Synthia's side.

"I know right?" Synthia chuckled and looked down her new dress once more. It really wasn't like her. The long sleeves and top section across her collar bone was semi-transparent green floral lace. Her bust down had a dark green underlay, and the dress itself fitted her curves perfectly. It came down to her hips and then flared ever so slightly to her knees. The green open towed kitten heels were higher than she would have liked, but a necessity in this dress.

"I was expecting her to throw a gasket or something. But instead she's coming too, and she's bring really supportive."

"Well Helora no doubt has her own reasons. I trust her…" Synthia sighed and looked over her shoulder to look at her mentor as she chatted up the young man on the check out.

"But you think she has a hidden agenda?" Jenny brushed some of the younger woman's long blonde hair out of the way, and checked that her zip was fastened all the way. It was, so she rested mane back into place.

"I…I _trust_ Helora." Synthia reiterated, more for herself than Jenny. "…but she's a demon."

"…so are you?" Synthia frowned and instinctively placed her hand over the red crystal beneath her dress.

"Yeah I keep forgetting that I guess."

"Here." Jenny opened a white clutch purse and retrieved her mascara and red lipstick. "Pucker up _princess._ " Synthia did as she was told and allowed her friend to rouge her lips. "My mother taught me how to be girlie, and then I went to university and became this nerdy creature of habit." Jenny put the lippy away and held the mascara ready. "Look up. Just like that. Yeah so I haven't done anything remotely girlie like this since. My mother would be leased if she was still alive." She moved onto the second eye. "Too bad I had to be shot first to find my feminine side again. There, done." Jenny turned to look in the mirror and do her own makeup.

"I look…grown up." Synthia smiled sadly in the mirror. "Growing up on the run I never got to do the whole 'dress up' thing. I wonder…if my mum ever looked like this?"

"Well don't you two look _delicious_?" Helora sauntered back over to the pair and winked at them. "I'll need to change when we get home, and then we'll head on out. Where is this charity event again?"

"Wayne Enterprises conference hall."

"Alright." Helora took Synthia's hand suddenly and pushed her into a twirl. "Damn girl! You'd have made a _fabulous_ Succubus. Oh, and you just look like Incubus food."

"Thanks, Helora." Jenny rolled her silver eyes. "We good to go?"

"Yeah I put your new threads on my tab. I have a running account here. So let's vamoos!"

* * *

"Are we ready to go?"

"Oh my…you _can't_ wear that!?" Jenny's left eye twitched as she stared at the red head.

"Oh yes I can." Helora wore a long black dress with a V neck so wide and so low, it was scandalous that her ample rack was actually held in place. It didn't reach her belly button…but it was close. Her arms were enveloped in the black chiffon and it looped around her middle fingers elegantly. The fabric glided over her lithe form and billowed out from her dainty waist. Her right leg was exposed by a slit up to her thigh, and she had sparkling silver shoes on. They were encrusted with diamantes, and matched her clutch hand bag…and the coiled serpent necklace around her neck. The head of which came to rest in the valley of her breasts and held emeralds for eyes, and a large diamond in its mouth. "I rock this dress and you know it." Her red curly hair was immaculate around her face, and her green eyes twinkled with mirth. "I intend to be the distraction, Casper. So you and her hornliness can go and snoop at will."

"But-" "Honey." Helora applied red lipstick like a pro without a mirror. "I've been enticing and distracting men and women for hundreds of years. Tonight will be a walk in the park for me. Just don't take too long getting the goods and keep my unholy Queen safe. Ok?" Helora blew Jenny a kiss, who was looking even paler than usual. "Oh and remember that if the shit collides with the fan, call me to avoid the spray."

"I'm sure tonight will go off without a hitch." Synthia put her hand on Jenny's tense shoulder, and felt the woman relax to her touch. "Jenny knows the lay out, you're going to be a distraction, and all we need is a few minutes with their computers. Right?" The blonde directed at Jenny, who nodded. "Ok. then let's do this."

"I took the liberty of calling us a limo. You're welcome."

"Why do I think she's enjoying every minute of this?" Jenny hushed to Synthia's side as they left the vortex door of the Succubi's apartment. The bright lights and whirring noises of Gotham greeted them as they stood in front of a very swanky looking hotel. Synthia didn't have time to gawk up at it however. A long black limo pulled up before them, as promised and Helora put her arm out to stop her two charges from reaching for the door.

"Good evening mam." The driver got out of the limo in his perfectly pressed black and white uniform. "My name is Winston. I'll be your driver for the evening." He bowed his head. "As requested there is champagne on ice in the back and your three tickets to the Wayne charity ball are on your seats. I wish you a lovely night." He opened the door to the back of the limo, and gave them a perfectly pearly smile. "And I hope you don't hesitate to ask me for anything you need to enhance your evening."

"How very sweet you are." Helora rolled her green eyes over the young man, and then shook 'something' off. "We seem to have everything we need for now Winston. So let's depart. Ladies?" Helora guided Jennifer in first, which with her tight fitting white dress was rather easy once she had her bum on the luxurious leather seats. She shimmied along, and Synthia climbed in next. Not very ladylike, but her dress was only knee length and loose around her legs. Helora lifted her arm up and didn't even look to Winston. Apparently, he could tell she was a 'higher class', of lady, and instinctively took her arm to held her glide her magnificent form into the limp. He then bent down to help lift her long black skirt up and tuck it into the car. He gave the demoness one last longing look, before closing the door. Helora immediately pressed the privacy switch. This put the black glass up between them and the driver's seat and turned off the intercom. "That boy is asking for a good fucking."

"And she's back." Synthia shook her head and chuckled. "Please don't eat the driver?"

"No worries there. He wouldn't survive me." Helora smirked with pride. "Only strong souls can lay with a sex demon and live to tell the tale." She giggled and turned her smirk to look at her young charges. "So here are my rules. No getting caught."

"Obviously." Jenny grumbled. "No getting your freaks on in public." Helora pointed at Jenny specifically. "We don't want our little unholy demon queen being recognised by the paparazzi and giving the game away."

"Deal. I don't particularly want the blood cultists to find me either." And despite the hours of practice with Helora and her new grimoire…it still didn't feel right to her when Synthia used her magic. "

Oh and no fucking. Well, we can." Helora giggled over to Jennifer, who was _really_ not amused by that statement. "But no getting Marilith's demonic cherry popped. K?"

"You are _unbelievable._ " Synthia held her face and tried not to let either of her friends see her burning cheeks.

"Just promise me that you won't part your legs for-"

"Ok! I say ok so drop it!" Synthia slapped her hands down on her lap. "

Champagne?" Helora pulled a bottle from the ice bucket and wiggled her red eyebrows at them. "Well?"

"I'm underage, remember?"

"I'm a demoness, remember?" Helora poured Synthia a glass half full and forced it into her hand.

"Wait." Jenny accepted her offered glass and caused her silver bob to bounce as she cocked her head to one side. "You're happy for her to drink, but not fuck?"

"Jenny!?" Synthia squealed. The rest of the drive was filled with teasing banter about her precious virginity, and Helora of course was the ring leader. By the time they got to the main event, Synthia was actually desperate to get out of the limo between her two tormentors and go inside. "Let's just go and hack into that damn computer already!?"

"Leave that to me." the door opened on Jennifer's side first, so she curved her legs out of the limo first and accepted Winston's offered hand. To her credit she looked like a pro as she took a few steps out of the limo and put her hands on her hips. The press were out in force and Jenny felt slightly dazzled by the sea of flash photography. Thank goodness she didn't look anything like her old self. The last thing she needed was for her would be assassins to see her picture in the Gotham Gazette. Synthia came to stand by her side, and finally Helora made her daring entrance. Her bare leg taking the first step out of the limo and her mischievous green eyes alight with the camera flashes.

"Come ladies." Helora offered each of them an arm. "The hunt is on. Stay close until no one is looking. Last time I'll say this." Helora leaned in to Jennifer's side. "Get my Queen killed, and I'll wear my super cranky face." Jenny had seen that face in training. It had haunted her dreams for many nights afterwards.

"Well no one wants that." the tech-nerd faked a smirk. She then looked over to Synthia and nodded to her. "I'll keep her safe."

* * *

"Miss Safar?" Nailah lifted her brown eyes from her glass of bubbly and smiled brightly at their host.

"Why Mr Wayne? I wasn't expecting to see you personally." She blushed like crazy and took his offered hand. Now she wished she'd done as Adam said and bought a fancy new dress for this event. When she had an invitation to the Wayne charity event to oversee the auction of price paintings as her 'consolation prize', she expected to be a wall flower. Also losing out on her life's work to that rich brat Banks, she didn't feel like going shopping either. So she dug out a nice dress she had from a friend's wedding. A soft baby blue chiffon dress, with a sweetheart neckline, diamante trimmings and a simple silver chain around her neck. The skirt itself was shorter at the front, resting just before her knees, and tapering lower at the back like a train. Her silver heels were also plain, to match her budget outfit.

"Well after all your hard work today getting the auction underway, I thought I'd express my thanks personally. I'm sure the journey was worth it for you. Metropolis isn't exactly around the corner."

"No but the trust you have to preserve art works directly with several universities. Including MU." Nailah pushed her long raven hair behind her and took another sip of her champagne. "You should be the one we're thanking Mr Wayne. Without you we wouldn't have raised so much money."

"Erm…" the handsome young man chuckled and smiled at her awkwardly. "It's actually Mr Grayson. I'm Bruce Wayne's adopted son and second in command whilst he's away on business. So I'm…filling in." he chuckled again and shrugged in his thousand dollar Armani tux.

"Oh, oh I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He chuckled, tousling his black curtains. "Bruce is the closest thing to a dad I have now, but I haven't taken his name. it's really _not_ an insult to be confused as a Wayne."

"I just assumed! I'm so embarrassed." Nailah took a swig of her wine and chuckled nervously.

"Why are you embarrassed my love?" Adam was looking very dapper in his black suit and tie. He put his hand on his beloved's back and looked to Dick with hard brown eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm the host." Dick felt waves of aggression coming off this man. "I was just thanking your wife for all her hard work today."

"Oh I'm not-"

"She deserves all the thanks. No doubt she tried to turn the compliment on you?" Adam rubbed her arm and looked down at her with utter adoration. "So humble, my Nailah."

"Well I better go rub elbows with more of the people we bled money from this evening." Dick nodded his head to Nailah. "Good evening." He left with his excuse eagerly. Something about that guy…was just intense.

"You do look good in that suit." Nailah placed a hand on his bicep and beamed up at her sweet Adam. "Thank you for coming with me. I know I've been mopey since I found out my professor had _already_ given the Isis project to Banks. I've been no fun. But." She sighed with a smile. "Life goes on. And tonight I helped catalogue and sell some fantastic art pieces. Hundreds of years of history in one night." Nailah hooked her arm with Adam's as they walked around the peripheral of the dance floor.

"You deserved the Isis project. It is criminal that they gave it to that privileged fool." Adam would have happily snapped the man's neck for making his beloved wife cry like that. the only reason he hadn't, was because he didn't know _who_ Banks was. The day he found out…

"Do you think there is a drinks table around here?" Nailah brought them to a stop and looked around the hall for the beverages.

"I believe at an establishment such as this, there is only a bar." Adam spotted the long bar side on the other side of the room.

"It seems silly but I've not had anything to drink in so long my throat is dry."

"Then I will quench your thirst, my love." Adam captured her lips in a hungry but brief kiss. It always pleased him how receptive his bride was to his affection. Her pupils dilated and her knees swayed ever so slightly at his touch. "Water?"

"Yes please. Oh wait." Nailah chuckled and pulled Adam in close once more. "I need the ladies room. Meet you back here?"

"Don't get lost. I'll tear the walls down looking for you if you make me wait." Nailah giggled, thinking he was joking…

"The sign is down there." Nailah pointed over to a set of stairs. "Kiss for the road?"

"Always." Adam smoothed his lips over hers like the perfect mouth, and tasted her sweetness on his tongue. "And once it's appropriate, we'll leave for our hotel so I can devour you." She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

"O-okay. That sounds…hmmm." Another kiss and she was about ready to throw the towel in now. her hands gripped at his suit jacket, and she leaned in to his warm body. "Okay I need the ladies room." Nailah pushed off from his chest and swerved her head away from his seeking lips. "Adam?!" She giggled, and he relented.

"Alright. I'll get you a water and meet you back here." With a big grin on her face Nailah made her way over to the stairs and practically floated down them she was so loved up. How she'd have pulled herself through the crushing humiliation of handing over her case notes to Banks without Adam, she'd never know. _I'd have stabbed him in the face, I'm sure. I can't believe he_ _still_ _offered sex in exchange for partnership on the project! Such a sexist asshole._

But as much as it stung, Nailah had to move on. Find another subject to use as her final project. She shook her head and pushed the door to the ladies room open. _When I told Adam he looked ready to explode. Hah, I bet Adam could take Banks nooooo problem._ She started to fantasise about her boyfriend's biceps as she pushed door to a toilet stall open. She did her business quickly enough, flushed, and reached for the lock on the door. A loud bang froze her on the spot and she heard two women arguing.

"That's it. I'm going to tear that bastard to shreds. I'm tired being chased and beaten down. I'm going to let my _other side_ out and kick some _ass."_

"You do that here, and people will die." Nailah couldn't breathe. She was still stood perfectly still with her hand hovering over the lock to her cubicle door. "Are you sure? I'll back you if you want, but…well…your demon nanny might be a bit pissed…" _Demons? Killing people? Oh shit. I should have just gone back to the hotel with Adam and peed there. Oh shit._ A loud roar rattled her heart in her chest, and she held her hands over her mouth to stop a scream from bursting free. _If they realise I'm in here too, I'm a dead woman. shit!_

* * *

 _Earlier that evening._

Dick shook his head and sighed. He hated these public events, but part of the billionaire playboy image was throw and attend parties. With Bruce out of town doing lord knows what with the justice league, it meant Dick had to hang up his Nightwing costume and don the Batman one instead. It also meant he had to fill in for Bruce Wayne. The amount of people who just tried to kiss his ass and broach business opportunities with him was just plain boring by this point. But alas, he had to smile and shake hands with all of them.

It was times like this that Dick wished a super villain would get up to no good, so he could have an excuse to leave. Then again, sometimes these events became worthwhile. He felt a dopey grin grow on his face as the brightest green eyes he'd ever seen locked onto his baby blues, and pulled him in. A woman in a daring black dress minced her way over to him…wow. She was stunning! Filling in for Bruce did mean that the female socialites paid him more attention, which being a red blooded man he didn't _mind._ But just as long as they knew it was casual only, and not to expect a phone call the next day.

"So you look to be someone important." Her voice was sultry and husky all at once. The way her crimson lips moved made him have wicked thoughts. All of sudden he couldn't stop himself from imagining what those red lips would look like as she moaned…

"I suppose I am. Dick Grayson." He offered his hand to the siren before him. His eyes dropped to her ample and exposed cleavage for a second, before he caught himself. Lord this woman was stunning! "This is my party, so to speak."

"Helora." Gawd even how she said her name sounded erotic. She placed her hand elegantly into his, and held his hand as she lifted it up. "You're supposed to kiss me."

"…wha?" He gulped, and then saw her smirk and look to her hand in his. "Oh! Right." he blushed like crazy and planted a chaste kiss on the back of her hand, and then released her. "So, Helora. That's an exotic name."

"I'm an exotic woman." she batted her lashes up at him with such confidence, it was _sinful._ "What about you Mr Grayson?"

"Oh please call me Dick." He chuckled and put his hands nervously in his suit pockets. "What about me?"

"Are you exotic?"

"No, I'm afraid I'm pretty ordinary. Except for being Bruce Wayne's heir, I guess."

"I see. You mean money? Hn. That doesn't interest me." She rolled her eyes and shrugged one shoulder. "I have a fortune of my own. So a man with money doesn't _entice_ me." He gulped. "You are however…very cute." Helora cast her green eyes over his shoulder, and watched Jennifer and Synthia slide down the service stairs. She returned her gaze to Dick and smirked. "Do you dance?"

"I don't normally like to." He admitted, looking out to the busy dance floor.

"But you will for me." Helora fluffed her short curly red bob once and then extended her wrists towards him. Like she was asking to be handcuffed. A thought that…delighted the original boy wonder. "Won't you Dick?" The way she said his name… _Lord, I don't pray often, and I don't ask for selfish things when I do, but PLEASE don't let me screw this up._

"I'd be delighted." He held her hands and led her to the dance floor. Immediately the many esteemed guests started whispering like crazy. "I'm afraid you'll be the topic of the newspapers tomorrow."

"I see." He held her waist tentatively and her arm out in hold. "We better give them something good to write about then, shouldn't we?" Helora rolled her head and smirked at 'something'. The music changed and sexy Latin tones slithered though the air from the orchestra. Before Dick could comment on his dislike of fast music, Helora slid her exposed leg up to his waist. "I can lead, if you like." Her leg slowly slid back down and she turned in his arms, swaying her hips and putting her hands behind her on his thighs. Dicks' cheeks were blushing, but he was grinning. He quickly held her shoulders and snapped her round to face him, pinned to his front.

"Oh no. _I_ will lead." He held the small of her back and took one of her hands, but this time he kept her delightfully close. Helora chuckled and slithered her free arm to hold the back of his neck. They swayed together on the dance floor and totally ignored the proclaimed gasps at their provocative dancing. If anything, this was _exactly_ how a playboy billionaire would behave, so despite his nerves, Dick just decided to go for it. "So are you from Gotham?"

"I'm from lots of places." She answered cryptically and drew circles into the back of his neck. "I go where the fun is. Today it's Gotham."

"And tomorrow?" he dipped her body with one arm, showing off his strength, and pulled her back flush against his rock hard chest.

"But my dear Dickie." Helora ghosted her lips over his jaw and whispered in his ear. "Before I think of tomorrow, I need to decide where _tonight_ will take me." Dick gulped and felt blood rushing down from his ear where her hot breathe lingered, down to his cock.

"I have a suggestion."

"I thought you might."


	11. Chapter 11

"Hurry up." Synthia stood by the door to the network room and felt like she was getting twitchier by the minute.

"Hurrying me isn't helping me focus." Jennifer snapped back and sat at a central computer. "It's hard to hack into a secure server like Wayne Enterprise, from a secondary location, without being _caught,_ Synthia. It's even harder when you keep yapping at me. No offence." Jenny tucked her silver locks behind her ears and chewed her red lips. "I'm not even close. I can't use my access codes, as that will give us away. I'm having to crack in old school, without any idea where the back doors or weak spots are." Her fingers furiously galloped over the keys, the script reflecting off her silver eyes.

"Shit. Security guard." Synthia hid inside the room and whispered angrily at her friend. "Now what?"

"Stall for me."

"What?!" Synthia waited for an explanation, but didn't get one. "Shit." With a deep breath, and anticipating that this plan was going to blow up around them, Synthia stepped out of the network room and tried to pretend she was drunk. "Ooooo Mr officer." "Mam? You shouldn't be down here." He was 30 something and relatively good lucking. He had a short crop cut, dark brown eyes and a clean shaven face. His blue security uniform was well pressed and an athletic form was evident beneath it. "Need to ladies room." Synthia giggled, and put her hands on the guard's shoulders. "You have biiiiiig arms. Do you like, weight lift?"

Jennifer almost gagged on the cheesy lines her young friend was using to buy her time. Especially as they were working. The problem was, Jennifer couldn't figure out a way to get into the main server from here, without triggering an alarm. It was just too complicated. She was a programmer, not a hacker! She was going to have to abandon the mission. Or they'd get caught and thrown in jail. She heard the gunshot in her mind and the cold feeling in her gut afterwards. Those bastards were going to get away with trying to kill her. she'd never know who called the hit, and what they wanted her precious nanites for…tears prickled her silver eyes.

It was too much to bare that she'd come this far, only to fail. Her fingers stopped on the keys and she closed her eyes. Better to leave now and pretend she was drunk like Synthia. Retreat and regroup. _But I don't know if I'll ever get a chance like this again._ The injustice of it burned her blood. It wasn't right that those thugs, whoever they worked for, were allowed to just shoot people and steel their life's work and _get away with it._

Something…clicked into place. Jennifer gasped and opened her eyes wide. Her tears fell down her cheeks, and her eyes were glowing silver. Her fingers trembled in place over the keys and she saw parts of the script on the screen change colour. Move. Change. Unlock and follow new commands. All without triggering the alarm. Videos played behind her eyes, and documents pertaining to operation 'rebirth' filtered before her, filling in the redacted sections and uploading to…her brain… And then the connection terminated. Jennifer was trembling and at first her fingertips were fused to the keyboard. When they finally detached she pushed away with enough force to send her, and the chair, falling backwards with a huff. "There you are! Don't tell me you did a pee in there did you?" Synthia and the blushing guard came running through the doorway, and Synthia helped her friend to stumble to her feet. Obviously her shocked and trembling form made her look like a stoned party girl, and the guard just shook his head at her.

"You can't be down here. You need to leave this area now ladies."

"Sure Mr Officer Sir. Just…where is the ladies room?"

"Up the stairs, and down the next set of stairs." He marched them down the corridor and to the start of the stairs.

"Must be where we went wrong." Synthia giggled, holding Jennifer's arm over her shoulders and walking the spaced out woman up the stairs. "Wrong stairs. Thank you!" once they were at the top the younger woman walked them both to stand around the corner and against the wall. Jenny slumped against it and looked as white as a sheet. "Did you find-"

"Something is wrong with me." Jenny held her elbows and her silver eyes watered. "Something happened in there. It was like I could connect to the mainframe and insert any code I wanted. Just by thinking it."

"…huh?" Synthia scratched her head and wished she'd paid more attention during computer science lessons. "My mind!" Jenny hissed, turning her body away from the rest of the room. "My hands fixed to the keyboard and my mind painted whatever picture I wanted. I made brand new code, changed the existing code and reprogrammed the mainframe to give me full access. Oh God…I can see the files now. project rebirth. The failed co-venture with Lexcorp. I-"

"What do you _mean_ you can _see_ the files?" Synthia waved her hand in front of her friend, who seemed to be staring into space. "You mean they came up on the screen?"

"No I can see them now. In my mind. I…I've downloaded the documents to my brain." They stared at each other in shock. No matter how computer illiterate Synthia was, even _she_ knew that wasn't right. Or natural. "What's happening to me?" Synthia turned to try and catch a glimpse of Helora.

"I think we should go home. Let's find Helora and-"

The lights went out and the sound of gasping and a few screams made it obvious that the sudden darkness was _not_ a planned part of the festivities. When the lights went back up again, hooded figures stood in spaces between the once happy dance partners. The guests all hurried off the dance floor and held each other as the cloaked figures dropped their shrouds. "Oh no." Red and blue hooded battle suits. White skull masks. Blood Cultists.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" one of them spoke, and took to the middle of the room. He was clearly their leader, as this all the other cultists bowed as he passed them. He had a long crimson cape that had a high collar and hugged his shoulders, sweeping the floor ominously behind him. Black boots, red tight trousers, a yellow armoured chest piece and blue sleeves. Upon his head rested a magnificent dragon skull.

The vertebrae was fixed to the back of his collar, making it look like the skull was actually part of him. Two pairs of horns framed his head, two level with where his ears should have been, and two high upon the dragon skull. Sharp fangs overhung his forehead, and the lower jaw rested as part of a necklace around his neck. red glowing eyes and a cruel smirking grin scanned the room. "I humbly apologise for the interruption to your evening, but I have a heart-warming plea to make of all of you." his blue gloved hands seemed to have claws at the ends, noticeable as he gestured with his hands casually. "You see, I'm _desperately_ looking for my beloved daughter." Jenny seemed to push her own mental break down aside for now, and grabbed hold of Synthia's wrists. The poor blonde was hyperventilating, and staring over the shoulders of many of the other guests at the back of the terrifying figure. "You see, I lost her as a babe, and thought her dead. My generous and omniscient God, Lord Trigon answered my prayers and my daughter now lives. So as a father, you can understand that I'd do _anything_ to find her again."

"Follow me." Jenny held Synthia to her side, between her and the back wall, and slowly walked her towards the second set of stairs.

"H-Helora?"

"She can take care of herself." Jenny scanned her eyes around and saw that there were so many guests now trembling around the circumference of the room, two women stepping down the stairs wouldn't be noticed…hopefully.

"Oh Marilith?" the cultist barked with a smile. "Beloved child? Return to your father. Let me embrace you child with open arms. You're not in trouble. Lord Trigon assures me that you didn't know that you were the long lost heir to the Blood throne." He turned and seemed to be searching the crowd for her. Jenny practically dragged her stiff friend down the stairs. "Marilith? I know you're here." His voice turned sinister, and he started scowling. "I know how to get your attention, child." His voice boomed all the way down the stairs. Jenny pushed the door to the ladies open with such a force it banged the side wall. "I shall make our Lord Trigon an offering every 10 minutes you keep me waiting. Starting now."

Brother Blood clicked his blue claws together, and one of his cultists dragged one of the crowd onto the dance floor. "In the name of our Lord Trigon, I give him your soul, and I take your blood." "No please!" a young woman with brown hair and mascara running down her cheeks screamed for mercy. "I have money! Please I-" "The only wealth in this life is the power given to me by my God. In the name of Trigon." He pulled a ceremonial curved dagger from his belt and fluidly slit her throat. The crowd started screaming, but the exits were all blocked by cultists. "YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES MARILITH. THEN ANOTHER WILL DIE!"

* * *

 _Present time._

"That's it. I'm going to tear that bastard to shreds." Synthia tried to charge out of the bathroom, but Jenny held her in a bear hug. "I'm tired being chased and beaten down. I'm going to let my _other side_ out and kick some _ass."_

"You do that here, and people will die." Jenny turned the younger woman in her arms and cupped her face. "Are you sure?" Synthia's lips wobbled and tears ran down her cheeks. This was the very thing her mother was trying to keep her safe from. How had Brother Blood found her? The image of him…God he was terrifying. But not as terrifying as the Demon King he would serve her up to if he captured her. "I'll back you if you want, but…well…your demon nanny might be a bit pissed…"

"Good. Her darker side is the side we need right now. Two demons are better than one, right?" Synthia growled, deeply, and her lovely baby blues glimmered red. Just for a moment.

"But…I don't know how to help you. I mean I can take out a few cultists. Helora taught me how to fight, but there are so many of them." Jenny might look like the calm one, but she was almost as terrified as her unholiness. It was only the personal stakes that riled Synthia to the fight. Jenny wanted to run. "What if there's a back door? Or a window? We could escape Brother Blood and his cultists that way, right? Helora can take care of herself, right?"

"What about the people he's going to kill every 10 minutes?" Synthia leaned back against the sink counter and held her head in desperation. "If we just run, he's going to keep killing. He's killed one person already." A whimper from one of the toilet stalls and made both the women jump. Jenny stormed over and tried to push the door open. It was locked, and another whimper inside made her realise that the person had locked themselves in.

"Whoever you are, whatever you think you've heard, we're all in a lot of danger. Blood cultists have crashed the party, and are slitting people's throats. You need to get out. Now." Clunk. The door slowly opened and a woman who was trembling more than Synthia stumbled out of it. She was lovely, really. Deep honey skin, deep brown eyes and lovely raven hair.

"…m…my boyfriend…is up there." Nailah held her elbows and ignored the tears dripping from her chin. "Wh-who did he kill?"

"A woman." Jenny answered, and Nailah fell back against the cubical stall doorway she was that relieved by the answer.

"We have about 8 minutes until he kills the next one though."

"I'm going to fight." Synthia wiped her tears on her green lacy sleeve and looked from Nailah to Jenny. "You need to get this woman out of here. Out a window or back door. But I'm not letting him kill anyone else."

"If you go up there, with _either_ face showing, he'll capture you and give you right to 'you know who?" Jenny hissed. "I can't leave you."

"I'm not leaving without my Adam." Nailah shook, but her conviction was true. "I'm not going out of a back door or window. I'm not. Not without him." Nailah clenched her fists and looked almost as pissed as Synthia. "So I take it you two have a plan, then?"

"I'm going to fight tooth and nail." Synthia nodded. "You're going to get everyone out." She turned to Jenny. "Don't hang around. Helora will help me, if she can. But you _have_ to get those innocent people out."

"I'll help." Nailah bravely took Jenny's wrist and caught her silver eyes. "I'll help get people out. I helped plan the event tonight. There are three emergency exits, all with alarms to Gotham PD. One leads out to the back garden, by the glass doors. The second by the bar. The third at the end of this corridor."

"Well aren't you useful." Jenny nodded and held Nailah's hand back. they have two of those exits covered. The one down here is free. I'll send people down to you, you get them out."

"Ok." Nailah nodded and shoved her long raven hair behind her ears. "I'm Nailah, by the way."

"Yeah. Blood cultists killing people should really call for first names." Jennifer chuckled darkly. "Jennifer."

"Synthia." The blonde nodded. "I'll go up first. You wait until I've drawn them all in to the fight, then get people out."

"Ok. That sounds like a plan." Jenny nodded and put her hands on her white clad hips. "Thanks Nailah."

"We need to move. Before Brother Blood gets dagger happy again." As they slowly walked up the stairs Synthia felt her heart fluttering in her chest. She stepped out of her heels and dropped her clutch purse. She held her stomach, and the urge to vomit became greater with each step she ascended. Just as they joined the back of the trembling crowd, Jenny held her elbow.

"You're the bravest person I know. Good luck, and don't hold back."

"Stay safe, and get them out." Synthia gave her friend's hand a final squeeze, and thought she'd forgotten how to breathe for a moment. Finally she released her forlorn friend and tried to steady her breathing. _I never thought I'd be grateful for Helora's teachings…well…here goes nothing._ She navigated her way slowly in between crying couples and friends, before pushing away and standing on the edge of the dance floor. Immediately the cultists and their leader turned to look at the sudden movement, and the victorious grin on Brother Blood's face was sickening.

"Marilith." He opened his arms and walked towards her. "Beloved child. How well you have grown. The spitting image of your mother."

"Don't you DARE talk about my mother. I know you _murdered_ her." Synthia's eyes flashed red, and this time didn't return to their blue hue.

"She was a traitor my love." Brother Blood stopped, reading the aggression in her form and still smirked at her. "And the only way you could have _known_ that I ended her life, is if our Lord Trigon told you. It is good that you are communing with our Lord of Sin. How proud I am of your tenacity my child!" he took another step before her, and the sound of bones snapping halted his advance. "Marilith?"

 **"** **My name is Synthia."** She held her fists up suddenly and roared. **"And now I'll get revenge for my MOTHER."** Her hands burst into flame, and she snarled like a mighty beast.

"How cute." He chuckled. "Get her." he clicked his claws, and the cultists ran forward. Synthia roared again, and pushed flames for her hands like a molten whip. She coiled her flames around three cultist, and grinned at their screaming bodies alight at her feet. She threw fire balls as quickly as she could make them, and registered that behind her people were going down the stairs.

"Hurry!" She knew that voice. Jenny was shouting at people to escape through the fire exit. "NAILAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"ADAM!" Nailah ran up the stairs against the throng and desperately looked for her boyfriend.

 **"** **Get out of here!"** Synthia held a cultist up by his throat, her hands burning his neck and face. **"Nailah I said now!"**

"I'm not leaving without my Adam!" her lovely blue dress billowed behind her as she ran towards a smaller group of people being held down by three cultists. "Adam?!" Synthia threw the cultist to the floor, and screamed with horror. Brother Blood came up behind Nailah and wrapped his muscular arm around her neck. He dragged her backwards, her legs kicking and her hands clawing at his bicep as he dragged her round to face Synthia.

"Now now my dear. You should _never_ reveal your weaknesses to your enemy. Because they'll exploit it." with a sickening cackle Brother Blood held his ceremonial dagger in his other hand, and Synthia stood perfectly still. Her red eyes fixed on the weeping brown ones of Nailah. "Now enough games Marilith. Put out your flames, and allow yourself to be shackled. I'll let her go, and we'll go home for a nice chat. Me, you and Lord Trigon. Or." He squeezed his arm a bit tighter around Nailah's neck and aimed the tip of the dagger down at her chest. "I'll run this friend of yours through, and we'll keep playing this game with other innocent bystanders until you comply. Your choice my dear. Your move."

He cackled and smirked as Synthia flicked her hands. Her flames simmered away until her hands were just smoking. "Good girl. Now take off your pendant, and throw it along the floor." Her eyes widened and she placed a hand over the amulet through her dress. "Oh yes I am _quite_ aware of the _trinket_ that old hag Agatha gave you. She's been dispatched accordingly of course. None should _dare_ to come between Lord Trigon and his Bride. Come on now. we don't have all day." He pressed the tip against Nailah's chest, making the woman sob with fear. "Or at least your friend doesn't." Synthia whimpered, and her eyes dimmed back to blue. Shaking she brought her hands up to her neckline, and retrieved the thick cord. "Yes. Good girl. Slide that over to daddy."

"Don't hurt her." Synthia begged. "I-I'll come with you. j-just don't hurt her." every inch she raised the necklace felt like an inch closer to her doom. "Please. Don't hurt her."

Crash.

Synthia froze still, and turned to the left, just as Brother Blood did.

"You will unhand her this instant." He glided through the broken window and landed in the middle of the dance floor. Golden boots, golden belt, arm guards and trimmings to a hooded cape. The rest of his costume was bitch black, and a lightning bolt on his chest crackled, alive and sparking around his form.

"Black Adam? What interest of yours is it whom I kill?" Brother Blood didn't seem concerned by the presence of yet another famous villain.

"Because that is my wife." The thunder bolt on his chest crackled, and so did his eyes.

"…Adam…?" Nailah watched with shock across her face as he lowered his hood and revealed the very face she'd kissed only hours earlier.

"Your Wife Isis is dead." Brother Blood tensed as Black Adam prowled towards him.

"And she is reincarnated. She now stands in your arms, and in danger. As you know how _volatile_ I can be, you need to release her this instant." Adam glowered and threw his arms out. From the palms of his hands lighting sparked between his fingers. "I lost my bride once. I shall not lose her again." Synthia gulped, witnessing an epic standoff, and lowered her necklace back into place. "I am immortal. If you wrong me on this day, you will feel my wrath for every day afterwards. You and your kin." Adam glanced sideways at Synthia, and then grinned to Brother Blood. "And I'll kill that hell spawn first. Let's see how pleased your God is with you then."

"If I release her, you might kill my daughter anyway." Brother Blood sneered. Ah, not smiling anymore.

"Then let us trade our cargo." Synthia yelped as her bicep was lifted up so high she had to stand on her tip toes or hang from his tight grasp. Damn he moved fast! She didn't even see him take a step towards her. "Your brat, for my bride. We'll release them at the same time, and they can walk the other."

"My child is rebellious. I'm afraid she might not come to be willingly."

"I'll snap your neck if you don't do exactly as I tell you." Black Adam jerked her little body round to blink up at him in shock. "Fail, and you will perish at my hand." Adam grabbed the neck of her dress and tore it open, exposing her cleavage and making her yelp with shock. "Do you still want the girl's pendant?"

"Yes I do." Brother Blood was starting to count the eggs in his basket.

"Hn." Adam took hold of her pendent. "A pretty wench this one." He leaned down and pressed his lips against her ear, making Synthia squirm and contemplate sinking her teeth into his muscular neck. he whispered to her…and then lifted his head. "If I didn't love my wife so much, I'd probably fuck you."

"It's a good thing you won't. She is promised to Lord Trigon, after all." Brother blood removed the dagger from its poised angle over Nailah's chest.

"I've removed her pendant. I'll hand it back once the deed is done." Adam turned Synthia in his arms and gripped the shoulders of her dress, ripping it further to reveal her strapless bra. "See?"

"Adam why?" Nailah whimpered.

"Hush my love. I will explain all to you soon." Adam nodded reassuringly to his 'wife', and kept one hand on Synthia's shoulder. In his other hand he dangled the hexed talisman for Brother Blood to see. "We trade now."

"Of course." Brother blood released Nailah and kicked her ass, making her stagger forward a few steps. "And now my daughter." Adam released Synthia and she slowly walked towards Nailah. When Nailah stopped moving, Brother Blood raised his fist and red sparks gathered there.

"He's going to kill you."

"No." Synthia held one hand down by her side, and reached for Nailah with the other. "I'll be ok. you just come here."

"To him?" Nailah looked past Synthia and saw something cold in her lover's eyes. Was this the real Adam? Had anything they'd shared been real at all? even if it had…this was Black Adam. His crimes were infamous. He'd murdered so many…and she'd kissed those hands.

"Look at me." Synthia took another step. "Come to _me_. that's it." the pair shakily met between two of the most evil men in the universe. Synthia put her hand against Nailah's chest, and used the other hand to pull her into a hug. "Our lives depend on you repeating after me. right now. I am Isis."

"What?"

"Do it!" Brother Blood had obviously smelt a trap, and raised his hand to cast a spell forward. "NOW!"

"I am Isis?" The ceiling of the building splintered as lighting struck Nailah. Her head flew back and her eyes sparked with energy. As instructed, Synthia threw herself away from her friend the moment she said 'I', and crawled against the pulses of energy towards Black Adam. Brother Blood fired his energy spell at Nailah…but it just bounced off. Once the energy dissipated Nailah blinked the crumbling ballroom back into focus. She saw Brother Blood to her left, and then to her right was Synthia at Black Adam's feet. She looked down at her body, feeling her skin humming all over. Golden sandals with a red ruby and Ankh on each shin. Her right leg was visible through a long white muslin skirt.

A golden belt with a ruby and Ankh on her right hip held the skirt in place. The etching made it look like she wore a belt of golden feathers, and her neck collar was almost the same. Except in the very centre was the very amulet she'd spent her academic life studying and drawing. White fabric connected the collar to the belt at the front, and a long billowing white cape fell from beneath the collar at the back of her neck. She touched her forehead and felt the red gem held in place by a golden chain around her head. The wind around her was still alive, and tousled through her long raven hair and billowing robes. "What…?"

"As agreed. The deed is done. Here." Adam dropped the pendant onto Synthia's lap, and the girl eagerly pulled the cord back around her neck. "My love! You have been restored to you fullest glory. Have your memories returned as well?" it was like Brother Blood wasn't there anymore. Adam pushed his hood back and moved to embrace his wife. Nailah stepped back from him, fear still across her face. "Isis?"

"How did you do this?" She touched her hand over the amulet on her neck, and then caught a sudden movement to her left. Brother Blood was circling her. His target was still in awe of her transformation. "Synthia!" Nailah pushed past Adam and meant to run to her new friend's side. Her world blurred and she was stood next to Synthia quicker than she could blink. It was such a shock, she fell over.

"My love? Do you not remember how to use your powers?"

"We had a deal!" Brother Blood snarled, seeing both Black Adam, and the newly resurrected Isis between him and his quarry. "Marilith is mine!"

"We need to get out of here." Nailah scrambled back to her golden covered feet and pulled Synthia up with her.

"Agreed." Black Adam stood between his beloved and Brother Blood, who's cultists were rousing from their previous beat down and beginning to encircle the trio. "I will keep them at bay my love. Take your companion to our home, and I shall meet you there shortly."

"How _exactly_ am I getting us out of here?!" Nailah was too stressed to argue that Adam was _not_ welcome in her home anymore.

"Fly, my love. Carry your prize and allow the winds of Horus to lift you. Will it, and it will happen."

"You are not leaving here with my daughter!" Brother Blood started chanting, and the ground started to Quake.

"I CAN'T FUCKING _FLY_ ADAM!" Nailah screamed.

"No. But I can." Synthia gasped and turned her head to look at the overturned buffet table behind them. It was Helora, in all her demonic glory.

"You took your bloody time!"

"Sorry I'm late. Can I interest you two _fine_ ladies in a ride out of this hell hole?"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Nailah pulled Synthia into her arms, and stared at the blonde for an explanation.

"My friend, and our ride out of here. Come on!" Synthia grabbed the Egyptian Goddess reincarnate and failed to drag her. Apparently her super strength was innate. "Forget how she looks! She's a good guy! Come on!" the cultist were getting closer. With a beat of her mighty red wings Helora swept across the room and landed before them. Her alabaster skin was already coated in the spatter of whoever she went through to get to them.

"You're super strong. I can't lift you unless you let me."

"GO NOW!" Adam was punching and electrifying cultist after cultist. But it was like there was no end to them. Then Synthia spied that they were crawling out of large crevices in the floor. No doubt her 'father's doing.

 **"** **Nailah!"** Synthia barked at the woman. Her eyes were glowing red, and she was losing her temper. **"Close your eyes, and hold onto me. You'll be fine. We have to leave. Now."**

"All aboard the Hell express." Helora wrapped her arms around them both and beat her wings like crazy. For a few scary moments they hovered on the spot, with Nailah's feet still planted on the floor. But then with a whimper she closed her eyes and clung to Synthia for all she was worth. Finally they took off at a wicked speed. They hurtled over skyscrapers and didn't stop until they reached a familiar rooftop. It was one near Gotham U, and one that Helora had used to walk through a vortex to their hidden home. As soon as their feet touched the floor Nailah collapsed to her knees. She was sobbing and holding herself. Calmer now, and safe, Synthia's eyes were blue again, and she waited for Helora to return to her mortal form before asking her a burning question.

"Where is Jenny?"

"She wasn't at the ball, so I'm assuming she got out. As soon as you're safe in my pocket dimension, I'll go get her." As if to prove the point of how urgent that was, Helora raved her hand over the wall beside the roof access door, and a purple portal appeared. "Step through, and I'll go get our lost friend."

"What about Nailah?" Synthia held the shaking shoulders of the drowning woman.

"He lied to me!" She sobbed, pulling the blonde into a hug. "He pretended to be a normal man! Lived with me! had sex with me! and all the while he was a murdering psychopath!"

"Oh hell yeah sugar." Helora dropped to her hands and knees, despite her elegant black dress getting dirty on the gravelly rooftop. She no longer cared. "A fucking Egyptian super goddess? Really Synthia? Don't you think we have enough problems without adding a new slot on Black Adam's shit list?!"

"What do you mean?" Nailah lifted her head up and stared into the fiery green eyes of the redhead. "What do you know that I don't?"

"Oh, a lot sweetums. You/re the immortal honey snatch booty call of the craziest man in the universe. Black Adam. Embodied with the all-consuming power of Shazam. Damn it Synthia?! She needs to go back to her husband. Now."

"He's not my husband!" Nailah cried. "I met him at a bar a few weeks ago. He was a one night stand that wouldn't leave. I didn't mind, but now it looks like that wasn't by chance. This amulet. I was stood next to it when he approached me."

"Yeah. It's yours. you're kinda famous in magical circles. As is the apocalyptic rage fest Black Adam brought down with his grief at losing her. " Helora scanned her eyes nervously over the horizon. "Look, this isn't safe. Black Adam will be getting bored of blood cult bashing and coming a-lookin for his best gal, if you know what I mean. We'll be the smear under his yellow booties if we're out here with her."

"I-I can't go back to him. He's a monster." Nailah grabbed Helora's hand and pleaded with her. "Hide me. P-please hide me. H-He terrifies me. All this time he's lied to me. Please I can't fight Black Adam."

"Yeah…I hear there's no such thing as a divorce in Black Adam's religion. Sorry." Helora pulled her hand back, and grabbed Synthia, dragging her away from Nailah's cowering form.

"No! We need to help her!" Synthia shoved her mentor off her, and ignored the way her green dress was practically just a skirt now. Her nude bra was all that hid her modesty. "Nailah risked her _life_ for me back there. And she helped save those people with Jenny."

"Listen your unholiness." Helora seethed, her eyes turning as red as Synthia's. "We are not-"

 **"** **She is coming with us."** Whatever she was going to say, it died on the succubi's tongue. her Queen had spoken.

"Fine. Why not? The more the merrier right? the more impossible enemies, the crazier the party. Now if you please?" Helora pointed to the portal urgently. "Get in the fucking shiny purple vortex before I throw your royal unholy ass in there." Synthia nodded, and turned with the bravest smile she had in her.

"Come on Nailah. You're safe now." Nailah sniffled and took her hands.

"I don't know how I'll ever thank you for this."

"How about when your husband finds us, don't let him snap our necks?" Helora 'helpfully' suggested. "In in in!" Gingerly Nailah followed the Demon Bride of Trigon through the vortex, saying a hushed thank you to Helora as she passed her. "Sure. It's not like I don't already have a fucking death wish. Get in there!" once the pair were through, she waved her hand and closed the portal. "Now to find Jenny, quickly and hide my ass before either Brother Blood, the big T, or Black Adam see the bullseye on it and use me as a fucking tooth pick. Bloody hilarious!"


End file.
